Behind Blue Eyes
by JumpingBeans480
Summary: Part Two: Ace didn't want a father. He didn't need a father. He'd lived his entire life without one and would continue doing so until the day he died, whenever that might be. Also known as, "The story of how Ace came to accept a father, and a family." Slow Burn Portgas D. Ace/Higurashi Kagome.
1. Prologue

**Behind Blue Eyes**

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, I also do not own Inuyasha and I highly doubt that I ever will. These two great Manga and Anime series belong strictly to their creators and studios. One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda and Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

*Edited 7 May 2015

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Prologue

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_The force of canon fire strong enough to shake the ship._

_The intense heat and choking smoke as the ship is set on fire. Screaming men, women and children trying to flee as one by one they are slain by the bloodthirsty pirates running amok on deck. The sound of their wicked laughter ringing loudly in her ears. The glinting of swords coated with the blood spilled from both sides. The stench of death thick in the air._

_Her mother being slaughtered right in front of her. Her still warm blood splattering on her young face._

…Mama?

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.

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_Drifting in the ocean for days. Cold. Hot. Hungry. Thirsty. Alone. Surrounded in darkness. Wallowed in despair. Wishing for oblivion._

I want to die…

_Then suddenly… a beacon of hope. Large, yet gentle hands finding her, holding her, nourishing her. Loving her._

Him.

_It was him that saved her._

_He saved her from the darkness. The despair. Death._

_"It is all right little one. You are safe now."_

He saved her…

.

.

.

She loved him.

_"What is your name, child?"_

She didn't have a name…

_"Oh, we cannot have that now, can we? So, from today onwards your name shall be…"_

She loved him.

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.

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_She was in a forest. It was raining. The thick scent of grass, earth, rain, tears and blood mixed together in the air._

He was there with her.

_Dying in her arms._

_No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no… not Him…. Please not Him… not him not him not him not him not him not him…_

_He wasn't supposed to be dying… He was the strongest person she ever knew._

He couldn't die.

_Don't die… Please don't die… don't die don't die don't die don't die don't die don't die don't die don't die don't die don't die don't die…_

She loved him.

_Her fault. It was all her fault!_

_Her choked sobs of pain. The endless tears. His bloodied hand caressing her face. Him growing colder and paler with death as time continued to flow. His gentle smile for her marred by the blood on his lips. His kind words of comfort to her even though she didn't deserve any of it._

_Her fault… All her fault… her fault her fault her fault her fault her fault her fault her fault her fault her fault her fault her fault her fault…_

_His soothing voice echoing in her head._

_"Shhh…. Do not cry for me little bird… Do not cry… It is going to be all right… _You _are going to be all right…"_

_His hand falling to the ground, its loud thump forever etched into her memory._

_His final breath. His closed eyes. His un-beating heart. His blood on her hands._

_Her screams of anguish._

She loved him.

.

.

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_"From today onwards, your name shall be… Kagome."_

_._

End Prologue

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LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE. BUT IMPORTANT I GUESS.

_This_ is the latest story I'm working on. Like _Tale of a Miko Kunoichi_, it's more of an Inuyasha/One Piece fusion than a crossover. And it takes place in the same universe as _Jump Then Fall. _Though, this is somewhere in the past, **long** before Ace and Kagome got together.

This will be a story of _how _they got together, and it won't be easy. Ace and Kagome are people with very troubled pasts here, and they need to learn to move on from it before they're ready to be in a relationship.

So. This story comes in multiple parts. Based on my _very _rough planning I estimate about... 12 parts? More information about those parts can be found on my profile page. Also, each part can be taken as a complete story of it's own.

So... This is Part One. It's the story about how The Whitebeard Pirates found Ace and how he came to be on their ship. Including the Prologue, it's 12 chapters and about 21,500 words.

As for Part Two... *laughs* Hopefully it'll be out before 2016?

~Jumpingbeans480


	2. Part One: If Dreams Were The Reality

**Behind Blue Eyes**

Notes: This chapter is set immediately after The Prologue.

*Edited 7 May 2015

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**PART ONE**

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Chapter 1: If Dreams Were The Reality

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**1st Year, 4 NOV**

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Kagome opened her eyes and stared blankly at the dark ceiling.

A moment or so of silence passed before she finally sat up. Though she appeared to be calm, she was anything but. Her heart was thundering in her chest and every few seconds, a tremor would wrack through her sweat-soaked frame.

After a minute of deep, calming breaths, Kagome brought her hand to her face and rubbed her eyes tiredly. A drawn-out sigh escaped her lips as that same hand then trailed down to the sword placed reverently by her bedside.

Her fingers traced over the familiar hilt tenderly and she let out another sigh.

_As far as nightmares went_, she thought wryly, _this one wasn't _that_ bad_.

In the past, there had been countless times where the raven-haired girl had woken up screaming or crying hysterically, depending on exactly what the nightmare showed. And the scariest thing about her nightmares was that they were more than just nonsense cooked up by her subconscious mind.

They were memories.

Indeed, her nightmares were always memories of a time not so long ago, around the time when she was still relatively a stranger to Whitebeard and his men, when she was still part of another's crew, when she was still guiltless, when she was still happy, when _he_ was still…

Her eyes grew misty.

Thinking about _him_ hurt.

It hurt a lot. Like someone was literally carving out her heart with a rusted spoon.

Still, despite that, Kagome didn't want to forget _him_. Ever. And so, she willingly endured the pain she felt whenever she thought of _him_. She thought of _him_. Oh, how she thought of _him_. Every waking and un-waking second, she would think of _him_.

She remembered how tall _he_ was, how _his_ form towered over her own. She remembered the exact length of _his_ long silver hair, how soft it was in her hands. She remembered how gold _his_ eyes were, how piercing they got whenever _he_ was full of emotion. She remembered how deep _his_voice was, how her insides seemed to melt whenever her name spilled from _his_ lips. She remembered how _his_ laugh sounded like, how she would turn inexplicably happy whenever she saw _him_ happy. She remembered how big _his_ hands were, and how every part of _his_ body seemed to radiate warmth.

Yes, Kagome remembered everything.

She would remember until the day she died, however far or near in the future that may be. It was the duty she had to carry. Her penance of sorts.

Because it was her fault _he_ was dead. If it were not for her anger, her stupidity, her recklessness and most importantly, her godforsaken arrogance, she knew without a doubt that _he_ would still be alive today.

So, no matter how much it hurt her, she wouldn't ever forget _him_. She owed it to _him_ to remember.

With another deep breath, Kagome ran her hand through her hair once more. She noted with wry amusement that her trembling had finally ceased. That was good. In the past, it would have taken her as long as the whole night for the shaking to fade. And once she had a nightmare, she couldn't go back to sleep. She could spend hours tossing and turning in bed without any success of falling back into slumber.

So instead of wasting time doing that, she would always spend her time up on the deck of the Moby Dick, simply content to stare at the dark horizon and the stars in the night sky until the sun came up.

But, that was all before…

A startled gasp in the air snapped her out of her thoughts. Her eyes flickered to the other side of the room where the noise had come from, or more specifically, to the person lying on the bed situated there.

It seemed that her roommate had been lost in nightmares of his own as well.

Without wasting any time, Kagome threw back her blankets and got out of bed. She silently crossed the room and when she reached his bedside, she slowly climbed in to lie down beside him. After a moment, an arm slipped around her waist and she felt herself being pulled closer.

She wrapped her own arms around him and she felt him press his lips to the top of her head in a chaste kiss.

Once satisfied that her body was as close to his as possible, Kagome finally laid her head on his chest. She sighed in contentment at the warmth his body emitted and snuggled closer, inwardly pleased when she heard the gradual slowing of his heartbeat.

"Thank you, yoi," Marco said softly as he trailed his hand down her cheek to her waist, finally coming to a stop when he clasped her hand in his.

Without saying anything, Kagome let out a deep exhale. She didn't need to say anything, for he knew almost immediately that her gesture meant, '_You're welcome_'. Out of everyone in the whole of Whitebeard's crew, Marco knew her best.

Just as she knew him best. Kagome closed her eyes.

Her nightmares were a common occurrence, as were his own, along with the nights spent in each other's beds in order to comfort each other. So really, it wasn't surprising how well they knew the other or how close the two of them were, considering they often saw each other at their weakest.

"…Don't let go," Kagome finally whispered and tightened her hold on him.

Marco's chest rumbled as he made a quiet sound of acknowledgement in reply. He gently stroked the pad of his thumb on her hand that was held with his while her free hand rubbed soothing circles on his back. Their breathing gradually evened out and together they fell back into slumber once more.

Only this time, the nightmares did not come.

.

End Chapter

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Hello dearies!

The Prologue was meant to be a dream, hence it's vague narrative style. Sorry if it was confusing to read.

~Jumpingbeans480


	3. Part One: No One Is Without Scars

**Behind Blue Eyes**

*Edited 7 May 2015

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Chapter 2: No One Is Without Their Scars

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**1st Year, 5 NOV**

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When Kagome awoke the next morning, the first thing that she was aware of was the warmth.

A lazy smile slowly formed on her lips and she sighed contentedly, smuggling against the source of that warmth and letting it flood her senses. She could hear another set of breathing along with her own, and a large part of her was glad that Marco had stayed with her like he promised. Thanks to his presence, she had been free of nightmares for the rest of the night, and she was sure that he had been as well.

Kagome opened her eyes and propped her head up to gaze down at the man still slumbering in her arms. A tender look crossed her face as she brushed away the hair obscuring his face and for the longest time, she was just content to watch him sleep.

Marco looked really peaceful, just sleeping there like that.

In fact, Kagome had never seen him look like that anywhere but in sleep before. Except…

Her smile slowly faded from her face.

Wait. She was wrong. Kagome had seen him like that before. It was when she was 16; around the time she had first joined Whitebeard and his sons. Marco at the time had smiled a lot more and laughed a lot more – he had been happy.

But… soon after she turned 17, Marco stopped being happy anymore. Because…

'_Don't think about that,_' Kagome reminded herself, '_Just… don't.'_

Her eyes roamed around the room in an effort to distract herself from thinking about those dark times, and paused once they landed on the clock hanging on the wall. Kagome let out a soft sigh when she took note of the time.

It was a quarter to ten in the morning.

She had lookout duty in 15 minutes. Kagome slowly disentangled herself from Marco, and once her limbs and body was free, she crawled to the edge of the bed, all the while careful not to wake him up. But, as she started to rise, a hand shot up and seized her wrist gently. Kagome turned to look at her roommate, who was gazing at her calmly. His half-lidded eyes were still drowsy with sleep.

"Where are you going, yoi?" he questioned her softly.

Kagome smiled sheepishly. "Lookout. I've got the ten to one shift today, remember?"

He hadn't.

"No Marco, I'm not going to ask someone to sub for me. I volunteered so it's my responsibility okay?" she added once she saw him open his mouth to speak. The phoenix closed his mouth before breaking out into a small smile.

Sometimes, he was sure that Kagome could read his mind.

"Now, would you mind letting go? My shift's starting in..." She glanced quickly at the clock, "...10 minutes and I need to get dressed." Her lips were quirked with amused exasperation.

Marco looked into her sea-blue eyes for a moment longer before he finally let go of her wrist. Kagome then resumed her task of getting out of bed, but she ended up pausing and before Marco could wonder at her behaviour, she leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss tenderly against his forehead.

Once she pulled back, she got out of bed without further delay.

The phoenix continued to laze about in bed as the woman undressed and donned her usual attire. His gaze would often switch between staring at her back to staring at her right side. He never looked away.

"You know, most girls would find this amount of staring uncomfortable," Kagome commented idly, in the middle of lacing up her boots.

"Well, it's a good thing you're not like most girls then," Marco replied. "Because most girls would put on their shirts _before_ they put on their shoes, yoi."

Kagome laughed. "True."

When she was finished getting dressed, she grabbed her sword and headed for the door.

"I'll see you later at the mess hall for lunch okay?" she asked once she was at the doorway.

"Ah," he nodded, and watched with a certain fondness as a true smile lit up on her face before she turned to leave. That fondness continued to stay in his heart long after she had left their room, and Marco estimated that the feeling would remain there for quite some time.

Although the sight of Kagome smiling was nothing out of the ordinary, for her smile to be real however – now that was rare.

That girl had a tendency to smile even when she wasn't happy.

But, putting fake smiles aside, whenever Kagome did smile genuinely, there was something about her smile that would make people pause and wonder for a moment what it was. However, they would just shrug it off the very next second and blame it on being too imaginative.

They were wrong. There was something.

Only those who truly knew Kagome could see the hint of sadness in her smiles.

Marco of course could see the sadness, as could Whitebeard and maybe even the other commanders to a certain extent.

But, it was only Whitebeard and Marco who understood - who knew about her past. Not completely though. No. Never completely. Close as the two of them were, he knew Kagome never told him _everything_ about herself_. _(Just as he never told her _everything._)

They understood that sometimes, there were certain secrets you never wanted to tell anybody. Even to those you trusted above any other.

And both Kagome and Marco definitely had a bond like no other. It was only Marco who could accurately tell when her smile was real or when it was fake. It was only he and he alone who understood that Kagome's biggest fear was letting anyone get too close – and he honestly couldn't blame her for it.

He himself had over a thousand brothers in his family, and though he undeniably loved each and every one of them, he never let them get _too_close to his heart. (Decades of love and loss had made him learn to keep his distance like that. Marco was raw and exhausted. World-weary. He was stripped down to his very soul. There were some days where he just wanted to sleep and never wake up. If it weren't for the nature of his Devil Fruit, he thinks he would have died a long time ago…)

Kagome and Marco had a bond that was forged through pain, suffering and heartbreak. They knew what it was like when you lost someone that you loved with your entire _being_. The pain from that was, to put it mildly, nothing short of unbearable.

Marco's heart gave a painful tug as he remembered long ebony hair that felt like silk running between his fingers, warm hands that were calloused from the constant handling of a sword, gentle dark eyes that could turn as hard as steel in the next second, and full lips that felt _so right_ pressed against his own. Those same lips murmuring his name in the throes of passion countless times in the past, but never would again.

Marco slung an arm over his eyes and a bitter chuckle escaped his lips. The fondness he had felt previously was gone now.

Most people couldn't understand how he had such a deep friendship with Kagome. They believed that the two were as different as night and day and Marco's age difference with hers (oh, if they only knew) certainly didn't help matters. But, what people didn't know was that Marco and Kagome were similar in a way that no one else was.

They were both broken.

* * *

"Oiiiiiiii! Kagomeeee!"

Said person snapped out of her trance in detecting enemy ships. She opened her eyes and peered out of the crow's nest she was in, scanning the deck for the pompadour-shaped hairstyle of the familiar drawling voice that called her name.

"What do you want Thatch?" she yelled once she spotted him below.

Thatch grinned. "To see you, my beautiful dove!"

Sappy compliments like that were a common occurrence every time Kagome saw Thatch. The pompadour-haired man wanted her to blush and get embarrassed because that didn't happen very often. And while Kagome found his compliments a little aggravating at times, she couldn't help but appreciate the good intentions behind his actions. And so, she never asked him to stop.

"Uh-huh," she deadpanned. It didn't mean she give him what he wanted though.

Thatch's grinning expression quickly sobered up once he saw that he was unsuccessful this time as well. "Right, well I was gonna ask you to join me for lunch later, but first Oyaji's looking for you."

As soon as he said those words, Kagome jumped out of the crow's nest and landed gracefully in a crouch next to him.

"Jiji? What for?" she asked as she straightened up.

Thatch shrugged. "He didn't say. Just told me to come get you. So… Kagome-chan, about my offer of lunch…?" his voice trailed off suggestively, almost hopefully even. Kagome cracked a small smile at his eagerness.

"All right. But only if you promise not to do anything stupid like last time," she warned.

Thatch blinked innocently. "Why Kagome-chan, I have no idea what you mean."

She snorted in an unladylike manner. "Don't talk bullshit with me Thatch. The last time I joined you for lunch, you and Izou-chan organised that goddamn drinking competition and depleted half our saké supply."

"Aw, Kagome-chan, what was so bad about that?" Thatch pouted, unrepentant in the least.

"You're not the one who had to take care of the hundreds of drunkass men," she replied dryly, "Checking to see if they're hydrated. Cleaning up their vomits, making sure they didn't piss their pants. Not to mention fending off all those perverts who decided to cop a feel while I was at it…" her voice trailed off dangerously.

"Ehehe… I promise not to do anything stupid this time…" Thatch laughed nervously. "So… I'll save you a seat in the mess hall?"

She nodded. "All right, but I don't know how long I'll be with Jiji," she replied and turned to leave. After walking a few steps, she stopped. "Ah hold on a minute Thatch," she called out and the man raised a brow at her.

"Save a seat for Marco too would you?"

"I thought you might say that," he grinned, "Can't say I'm surprised. You and Marco do everything together!"

This time, Kagome blushed at the comment and Thatch's grin widened. Success!

"We don't do _everything_ together…" Kagome insisted, still blushing. And her blush deepened when Thatch's grin turned feral. It was eerily similar to how a demon smiled at people before it gleefully took their souls.

"Oh really…?" he practically purred, "Marco's the one you're the closest to on this ship. You sit beside each other whenever we're partying, you eat together at mealtimes, you always head out with him whenever we dock, you've been sharing a room for years and hell, the only things I haven't seen you two do together is bathe and share the bed," Thatch paused to grin at Kagome's embarrassed expression.

Even if Kagome were under the most horrible torture imaginable, she would never, _ever_, tell Thatch how wrong he was about that last point.

Whenever she and Marco sleep together on the same bed, they did just that – sleep. They did not sleep with each other – as in, they never had sex. They 'slept' together only for one purpose and one purpose alone – comfort. So really, 'sleeping together' for them was completely innocent.

But of course Thatch would never settle for that answer. He would blow everything out of proportion and Kagome would _never_ hear the end of it.

"Why, if I didn't know any better, I would say that the two of you were lovers," Thatch continued on before thinking, and once his mind caught up to exactly what words escaped his mouth, the pompadour-haired man froze in dawning horror. _Oh shit._

"I-I er…" he attempted to speak, but it was too late. The damage was already done.

"You know that's not true Thatch…" Kagome began softly, her face filled with melancholy, "Marco loves only one woman, and I never want to take her place in his heart like that." Her eyes grew distant, and for a moment she was lost in the memories of the good times she'd once shared with Marco and his beautiful lover.

But as quickly as it came, the moment was over and Kagome snapped out of her thoughts. She flashed Thatch a kind smile to show him that she was okay.

"Like I said," she continued on with a shrug that she hoped looked dismissive, "There's nothing going on between Marco and I. We're just close friends. _That's all_." She ended the sentence with a hint of forcefulness that left Thatch backing away in submission.

"Hai hai…" he held his hands up as a sign of surrender.

Kagome rolled her eyes and turned to leave, walking in the direction of Whitebeard's room. "See you later Thatch!" she called out, not bothering to turn around. A few seconds later she heard Thatch's own reply of goodbye.

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End Chapter

* * *

Hello again my lovelies!

Apologies for all the angst. I can't seem to stop writing it. But it's so fun for me...

~Jumpingbeans480


	4. Part One: Useless To Run From The Past

**Behind Blue Eyes**

*Edited 7 May 2015

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Chapter 3: Useless To Run From The Past

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**1st Year, 5 NOV**

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The walk to Whitebeard's room was a short but familiar one.

Kagome had long ago stopped counting exactly how many times she had made this journey. But, if she were to give an estimate, she would say that it would have already been over a thousand times. Back in the day, she would always see Whitebeard for anything. Be it a good thing or bad, big or small, meaningless or meaningful, happy or sad, she would always head over and talk to him about it.

But presently, she had Marco as her primary confidante.

Which meant that she didn't confide in Whitebeard as much as she did in the past anymore. But it wasn't because her relationship with the old man had downgraded. No, it was nothing of the sort. Kagome could even confidently say that their relationship was better than it had ever been. The reason she had stopped telling him about every little thing was because she was being mindful of his failing health. She cared for him too much to want to trouble him with her silly worries or insecurities or guilt.

When Kagome had been in the lowest point of her life two years ago, broken and guilt-ridden beyond comprehension, it had been Whitebeard who had helped her.

He had seen the pain lurking behind her eyes, he had taken her in, he had cared for her and he had ultimately started the healing of her broken soul. (Healing, but never to be whole again.) Basically, Kagome truly was grateful to Whitebeard for everything he had done for her, and she loved him as how one would love a grandfather. (Never a father though. The only father she would ever have would always be…)

Kagome was sure without Whitebeard's help, she probably would have been dead from her grief several years ago. That was how bad things had been for her then.

Kagome arrived at the large door to his room and knocked on it. "Jiji? It's Kagome."

A moment later she heard Whitebeard's rumbling voice, "Come on in."

Kagome opened the door and stepped inside, smiling tenderly at Whitebeard, who was laid out on his bed and hooked up to his daily medication. Her smile got even wider when she noticed Marco standing beside the bed, a newspaper in his hand.

Marco smiled back at her while Whitebeard took a hearty swig from the saké bottle he carried in his hand. Kagome sighed softly and briefly wondered how many bottles the old man had already drank today. Although she disliked Whitebeard drinking so much – the man's health wasn't exactly the greatest, and drinking certainly didn't help it – she kept her silence because of the many times Kagome told Whitebeard to cut down on his drinking, not once did he listen to her.

_Even when he's hooked up to all those tubes, the stubborn old man still wants to drink…._ she thought with a begrudging fondness.

"Kagome," Whitebeard's voice was warm.

Kagome walked up to him and looked up, staring straight into his eyes. "Afternoon Jiji," her voice was just as warm, and her smile was bright. Whitebeard reached out and patted her head fondly with his oversized finger.

Once he retracted his hand, Kagome said bluntly, "Thatch said you wanted to see me. Is your health acting up again?" She frowned in worry.

"Gurararara, straight to the point as always I see," he noted, and laughed again when Kagome blushed slightly. "Don't worry, my health's fine. I just wanted to talk to you about another matter, but first, lemme finish hearing the news." He then looked at Marco, who nodded and began reading out loud from the newspaper in his hand. It was a daily ritual for Marco to read the news to his captain. It was something he liked to do, and it was mostly him that did it because well, not many of their men could read.

And besides, Marco had already been doing it for a long, long time.

Kagome closed her eyes and listened to the news in silence, letting the soothing timbre of Marco's voice wash over her. She wasn't paying attention to the words so she didn't know what he was talking about. No, she just really loved the sound of his voice; it was deep, it was calming, and in some ways it was her anchor, because it was his voice that had calmed her down during the times when her nightmares got really bad.

"Wait son, repeat that," Whitebeard spoke up, breaking Kagome from her reverie. She opened her eyes and watched the phoenix, curious as to what news was so important or interesting that Whitebeard wanted to hear it again.

"Portgas D. Ace, future Shichibukai?" Marco read the title calmly.

Kagome raised her brow in surprise. Lately, she and the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates had been hearing plenty of news concerning one Hiken no Ace, the infamous super rookie. He was taking the Grandline by storm with his crew, the Spade Pirates, and he currently held the record for the highest bounty a rookie ever received for this year – a 350 million bounty in 10 months of piracy.

But as for the highest bounty record of all time for a rookie… well… let's just say that Ace still had a long way to go.

"Shichibukai huh? Not bad for a newcomer," she mused, mildly impressed. Though she hated the Marines with a passion, even she knew that not just any ordinary pirate was offered the chance to be a Shichibukai.

Marco nodded as his eyes skimmed across the rest of the article, "Yeah, but he refused them, yoi."

Kagome smirked. "Can't say I blame him. When I got the offer, I turned them down too."

She did indeed. The Marines had offered her the position over three years ago, back when Kagome had been quite the infamous rookie herself. In fact, she and another two of her _nakama_ had made such a notorious trio of pirates that the whole world had bestowed a title upon them.

'_Sannin no Ou _'.

It translated into 'The Three Kings' (with no affiliation to the Dark King Silvers Rayleigh) and they were called that because coincidentally, all three of them had '_Ou_' – or 'King' – in their respective nicknames. But, that wasn't the main reason.

No, the main reason had to do with their strength. 'The Three Kings' were – and possibly still are – among the top pirates of the current age.

As proof to that statement…

Remember the highest bounty record of all time a rookie ever attained? Well, about the rookie pirate that set it – he's one of 'The Three Kings'. And although he had set that record more than half a decade ago, until now there was still no rookie able to beat it.

If that wasn't a sign of their strength, then Kagome didn't know what was.

"Hmmm," Marco hummed, "You never mentioned that before, yoi."

She shrugged. "I didn't think that it was important. But like I said, I turned them down. Immediately. There was no way in hell I wanted to work for those bastards…" She muttered the last part in a tone that could be considered petulant.

Marco's mouth quirked up into a little smile at her comment while Whitebeard just laughed.

"Gurararara … that kid would make a fine addition to our family," he commented.

Marco and Kagome exchanged slightly surprised looks. If the chance of being offered the position of Shichibukai was rare, then the chance of Whitebeard showing this kind of interest in a rookie was even rarer.

"I don't think he would be interested Jiji," Kagome replied with a slight tilt of her head. "Pirates these days – especially young pirates – they all want to get famous by their own power, not by riding on another's fame."

"Oh, _you're_ not included in those 'young pirates' Kagome?" Whitebeard asked with an amused smile.

The raven-haired woman shook her head.

"I may be young, but for me becoming a pirate had nothing to do with the fame and power Jiji," she replied with a small smile. It quickly faded however, when she recalled something and she unconsciously fingered the handle of her sword.

_At least, it didn't in the beginning…_

"Kagome's right," Marco interrupted them with a wry smile, "pirates these days want adventure and riches, yoi. Not many care for family." As he said that, he carefully straightened the newspaper, folded it in half and tucked it under his arm. Then he turned to his father lounging on the bed.

"I'm done for today Oyaji. You want me to go so you and Kagome can talk?" he asked.

Whitebeard shook his head.

"Stay, son," he said simply before turning to Kagome. "On my desk, there's a letter. It's at the top of the pile, the one with the red envelope. I want you to get it first," he instructed. Kagome did as she was told and once she picked it up, she froze in shock.

It was addressed to _her_.

And that elegant handwriting… Kagome would know it anywhere.

"It arrived for you this morning," Whitebeard told her, his voice as gentle as could be – which wasn't much to be honest.

Marco's eyes widened slightly in concern when he noticed that as the raven-haired girl held the letter her hands were trembling. He started to go to her side, but stopped when he saw his father shake his head. The phoenix squared his jaw in frustration, but nevertheless did as ordered.

"…Is that all you wanted to see me for Jiji?" Kagome finally spoke, albeit softly.

Whitebeard didn't reply, but she picked out the unspoken '_Yes_' in his silence. "Then I'll be going now," she said before she turned and left the room. A few moments later, Marco turned to his father.

"It was from the pup."

It wasn't a question, merely a statement.

"Ah…" the old man agreed.

Marco sighed tiredly. "I'll see you later Oyaji," he muttered before leaving the room, in search of a certain blue-eyed beauty. Whitebeard stared at his closed door for a few minutes, a pensive look on his face. Then, he shook his head as if to dispel his thoughts before taking a swig of his sake.

_Kids these days…_ he thought with a rueful sigh.

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello my lovelies!

Okay, so there's even more cryptic information about Kagome's past here. The entirety of it will slowly be revealed over the next few parts. _Not chapters_. As for the pup that Marco mentioned, well, all I can say is that he's an _Inuyasha _character.

First mention of Ace here! He'll be appearing in a few more chapters, so stay tuned. :)

~Jumpingbeans480


	5. Part One: Nothing But Trouble And Pain

**Behind Blue Eyes**

*Edited 7 May 2015

* * *

Chapter 4: Nothing But Trouble And Pain Here

.

**1st Year, 5 NOV**

.

It didn't take Marco long to find Kagome.

Actually, he didn't even need to find her at all. He already knew where she was – because there was only one place Kagome would go to whenever she was upset – and that was the front of the Moby Dick, where the giant whale head would be.

It was her favourite spot on the ship.

When Marco arrived, he immediately spotted her sitting in the middle of the whale head.

But, he did not go to her.

From where he stood at the edge of the whale head, the phoenix could see the opened letter in her hands, and he knew that it was best to give her some time alone to read it, to absorb the information. He would go to her only when she asked it of him.

And until she did, he would silently watch over her – being there _for_ her but not being there _with_ her.

Marco estimated that nearly half an hour had passed before Kagome delicately put the letter back in the envelope and tucked it in her pocket. She then drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

Her whole being screamed vulnerable.

The man took this as a signal that she needed him and he swiftly made his way over to her. He sat down cross-legged beside her and directed his gaze on the ocean before them while Kagome leaned tiredly against him, revelling in the comfort that his presence offered.

He did not speak, and neither did she.

She just stared at the floor in seemingly deep contemplation.

The next several minutes passed between them in companionable silence, and although Kagome knew that Marco would never force her to tell him things she didn't want, she also knew that in this case, she had to tell him. No matter what. The man may not have shown it, but Kagome knew that he was worried about her, and the part of her that cared about him didn't want to cause him unnecessary pain or worry.

Kagome drew in a deep breath, and readied herself to talk.

"…It's been over 2 years since I last saw them," she told him softly.

Marco did not speak, but merely turned his head to look at her.

"Everyone wants me to come home. They all miss me." She let out a humourless laugh, "Even the _Ryuuou_ himself."

She clenched her fists so tightly that they turned white. "I don't understand. Why don't they hate me? How can they still care about me after what happened?" Marco reached out his hand and gently turned her face towards him. Her teary eyes were filled with remorse, and Marco wished more than ever to take away her pain.

Kagome was young (_so_, _so_ _young_) and it wasn't right that she should suffer like this.

"They still care because they're your family, yoi," he replied seriously, using the pad of his thumb to brush her tears away. "No matter what wrongs you've committed, no matter what mistakes you've made, they'll forgive you regardless. Because they're your family and they love you for everything you are and everything you're not."

A beat of silence, before…

"…Kinda like your family?"

Marco smiled. "Kinda like _our_ family," he corrected.

Kagome smiled in return. And although it was a faint one, the phoenix was still pleased.

He watched with slight curiosity as Kagome brought her hand up to place over his hand that was still holding her face. She closed her eyes and nuzzled against it, breathing in deeply and taking in his familiar scent.

"Thank you Marco," she whispered sincerely, opening her eyes.

"No problem, yoi," he replied tenderly and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, drawing her body close to his. Kagome rested her head against his chest, taking comfort in the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat.

The two continued to stay in that position, saying nothing – merely basking in each other's presence.

To the casual observer, the scene looked as one of lovers sharing an intensely private moment. To the Whitebeard Pirates, the scene looked as one of a tender romance developing between their First Mate and their resident Doctor. To Marco and Kagome on the other hand, the scene looked as one of two people who had known great love, lost that love, and were seeking out each other because they _understood_. Intimately.

Nothing seemed to exist outside of the moment they were in, and the Whitebeard Pirates working out on deck who saw the two did not stare for long and quickly looked away, going about with their daily business.

They knew better than to interrupt or to watch, as Marco might get angry with them. And if there was something that every Whitebeard Pirate knew, it was to not get Marco the Phoenix angry, no matter what.

He was _scary as fuck _when he was pissed off.

Although an amiable and relaxed man most of the time, once he got angry all of his brothers agreed that he was scarier than even Whitebeard on his worst day. None of them would be able to forget the fate of the unfortunate crewmember who had once been on the receiving end of Marco's full-blown wrath. Everyone shuddered just thinking about it. Nope, they definitely did not want him upset or angry with them.

So they merely ignored the two and went on with their work.

* * *

It was peaceful.

The sea was calm, the temperature was cooling and the azure sky was clear of storm clouds. It was definitely one of the good days on the Grand Line. The waves were lapping gently against the side of the ship, creating a steady but soothing tempo. Crewmembers walked about the deck, their footsteps padding softly against the wood. Faint sounds of chatter and work could be heard in the air. It was peaceful indeed.

Marco honestly wasn't surprised when that peacefulness was shattered.

"BIG NEWS!" someone yelled out.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and the sounds of activity faded. Soon, there was an excited chatter in the air and someone yelled for Marco. The man in question sighed in mild annoyance and let go of Kagome.

"What's so important, yoi?" Marco wondered as he stood up, also taking the care to help her up as well.

Kagome shrugged and strapped her sword back to her waist. "Who knows?"

They made their way back towards the deck, where a crowd had gathered. Once the men saw him, they parted soundlessly, letting him through. Marco and Kagome headed to the centre of the crowd, where the person who had shouted the announcement was.

"What's the news?" Marco asked his subordinate.

The man nodded respectfully at the phoenix. "Marco-taichou, we've just got word that Jinbe is fighting Hiken no Ace!"

Marco raised his eyebrow slightly in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes taichou," he replied, "Sources say that they've already been at it for four days straight."

Marco let out a low whistle, clearly impressed. Four days straight? Portgas and Jinbe both had fucking good stamina, that was for sure.

"…Ano, Marco-taichou, what are your orders?"

It took Marco only a brief moment to decide. "Inform the other ships and set sail! I want us there in under three days, yoi!"

"Yes taichou!" the men acknowledged enthusiastically.

The crowd slowly dissipated as Marco barked out orders to each and every one of them, until only he and Kagome were left.

"…I'll help," she told him quietly. And while she didn't say how she wanted to help out, Marco knew.

He raised his brows. "You sure?"

She didn't reply, but her expression told him everything.

"…" Marco was speechless, and he made no attempt to mask his surprise. Although Kagome had an ability that others didn't have, she mostly used it for healing. In fact, Marco could count with two hands just exactly how many times in the past Kagome had used that ability for something other than healing and still have fingers left over.

"…Do what you want, yoi," he said at last, "I'll stop by once I let Oyaji know what's going on."

She smiled, "You know where to find me."

And then she was off.

Marco watched her departing figure for a few moments before letting out a soft exhale. How unexpected to think that it was only this morning when they had talked about the flame user… And now they were off to get him.

_Oyaji's going to be so amused when he finds out,_ Marco thought as he headed in the direction of Whitebeard's quarters.

Portgas D. Ace huh… Somehow, Marco had a feeling that things were about to get very, _very_ interesting around here…

* * *

As Marco predicted, Whitebeard _had_ been amused.

He had been _greatly_ amused, in fact.

"Gurararara …" Whitebeard continued to laugh.

He had been laughing nonstop ever since Marco had told him the news. And because the phoenix had rarely seen his father laugh like this, he had been content to stand by the sidelines and not interrupt.

With his arms folded and eyes closed, he smiled and simply enjoyed the moment.

Once the sound of laughter died down, Marco opened his eyes to find his father grinning at him. And the smile on the old man's face was so wide that it comically resembled the infamous moustache he was named for.

"How long till we arrive son?" he asked, still slightly breathless from his long bout of laughter.

"If winds are strong, then two days. Three at the most," Marco replied with a shrug, "Though now, I'm not so sure, yoi."

Whitebeard raised an amused brow. "Why?"

"Kagome's offered to _help_."

This time, Whitebeard looked slightly surprised. "Did she now? That's rare of her."

Marco nodded in agreement. _Don't I know it_' he thought to himself, before speaking. "Since she's helping, the journey will definitely be shorter. But as for _how_ much shorter I can't say, considering the nature of her help, yoi."

There was a moment of silence, then, "…Any idea why she suddenly decided to volunteer?"

The phoenix smiled ruefully, "She didn't tell me, but I know her well enough to guess. She…" He paused with a certain uncertainty. "She doesn't like death." Marco frowned and shook his head in mild annoyance.

That sounded stupid. Who _doesn't_ like death?

He was quiet for the next few moments as he attempted to organise his thoughts.

"…Before she retired, Kagome was one of the best pirates of her generation, wasn't she?" Whitebeard spoke up, his dark eyes alight with fond recollection. "From what I've heard, she loved being a pirate. The adventure, the freedom, the comrades, the fighting…"

Marco laughed once, and it was a pleasant sound.

"Especially the fighting, yoi," he interjected. "...Kagome told me that she loved the fighting so much she never bothered with her healing."

Marco's smile morphed into a grimace.

"But after _he_ died, things changed, yoi. Kagome didn't want to fight anymore. Told me that her reckless fighting was the reason _he_ died," he stated seriously, "So, to atone for it she stopped fighting and started healing. She patched up a lot of our men – even saved some of their lives. And helping our men saved her too. She was opening up more, smiling more, becoming happy. She was finally even starting to forgive herself, yoi. But when… when Mi-"

Marco's throat went dry and he swallowed deeply, trying to continue.

He couldn't say her name. He just _couldn't_ say her name. It hurt like a bitch to even try.

"When _she_ died as well," he ended up saying, and was grateful that his father hadn't asked him to clarify who 'she' was. Marco didn't think his heart would have been able to bear it. "Everything went to hell, yoi," he stated bluntly, "_She_ was like a mother to Kagome, and after _her_ death, Kagome cut herself off from everyone again. She even blamed herself for not being able to save _her_…"

The phoenix felt his throat constrict again.

"I've told Kagome countless times already that it wasn't her fault, but as for whether or not she believes me…" he laughed humourlessly once, before his features and his voice softened, "_Her_ death… It wasn't Kagome's fault, yoi. It wasn't anybody's fault."

_It wasn't anybody's fault._

That was what Marco had repeated to himself every single day for the past year as an attempt for him to try and move on, to leave his despair and grief behind. He would say it as soon as he woke up, and it gave him the strength to carry on his duties for the rest of the day. But, if he really thought about it… Who was he trying to kid? If there were somebody at fault here, it would definitely be him. It was his damn fault. Not Kagome's. His.

For not being strong enough. For not being able to protect his lover. For letting her die.

Marco hastily shoved away that thought. _It wasn't anybody's fault. It wasn't anybody's fault. It wasn't anybody's fault. It wasn't anybody's fault._

_It wasn't anybody's fault._ "So… what I'm trying to say is... Kagome's helping out because she doesn't like any unnecessary violence. Strangers, allies, friends, loved ones; it doesn't matter to her. She doesn't want them to die or get injured if she's got to power to help. That's why she's so eager to assist Jinbe."

Whitebeard was silent as he contemplated on Marco's words.

"…I see," he finally spoke with a nod.

An ordinary man might have missed it, but Marco was able to pick up on Whitebeard's unspoken dismissal almost immediately. He nodded respectfully, "So I'll be getting back to work now, Oyaji. I'll stop by to let you know when we're reaching, yoi."

Without waiting for a reply, Marco strode out of the door and into the sunlight.

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello my lovelies!

We get an insight into Kagome's past again. I know all of it, and do plan on revealing it slowly over the following parts. _Not chapters._

~Jumpingbeans480


	6. Part One: Of Nicknames, Secrets and Bets

**Behind Blue Eyes**

*Edited 7 May 2015

* * *

Chapter 5: Of Nicknames, Secrets And Bets

.

**1st Year, 6 NOV**

.

As it turned out, it had taken the Whitebeard Pirates only a little more than a day to reach Jinbe's island rather than the three days that Marco had originally predicted. Winds had been strong throughout the entire journey, and the currents had been even stronger.

The men were calling their journey a miracle. Some of the superstitious ones even claimed that Poseidon was looking out for them.

Marco smirked amusedly. _If only they knew._

The phoenix honestly wasn't surprised by their speculations. The only people that knew who was the one really responsible for their miraculous journey was Whitebeard and all his commanders. Though, they would never say anything about it.

The Whitebeard Pirates would never betray a person they considered one of their own.

And besides, it simply wasn't their place.

Kagome was a very private individual and everyone on the crew was respectful about that. Though they knew little about her past and person, they would never pry.

"Marco-taichou, the island's straight ahead," one of the navigators called from the deck.

Marco, who was currently standing on the whale head, nodded in acknowledgement. Even though there were multiple islands before them, he didn't ask his brother to specify which. He was perfectly aware which island Jinbe and Portgas were fighting on.

The random bursts of fire and occasional explosions coming from one particular island were a dead giveaway, even with all the mist.

There was the sound of heavy footsteps drawing closer and soon Whitebeard was standing beside him.

"If sources are correct, it's been five days since they've started fighting, yoi," Marco intoned quietly.

"Without stop?" Whitebeard asked, impressed. Jinbe was by no means weak, and to go head to head with him, for _five_ days straight no less. Well, if Whitebeard wasn't serious about Portgas D. Ace joining his crew previously, he sure as hell was now.

Marco nodded in reply, staring at the nearing island.

"We made it a lot faster than expected son," Whitebeard observed calmly.

"Yeah," Marco agreed, that eternally lazy expression on his face. "Thanks to Kagome's help. Though, some of the men are calling it a blessing from Poseidon, yoi," he admitted with some amusement, earning a loud round of laughter from Whitebeard.

"Gurararara," he guffawed, "Poseidon? More like a blessing from _Shinou_."

Marco cracked a small smile. _Shinou_ indeed.

"You know… It's rude to talk about a person behind their backs," a feminine voice called out pleasantly from behind them. Marco turned his head slightly and watched as Kagome walked up the stairs and onto the whale head to join them.

"Is all this mist your doing, Kagome?" Marco asked her curiously once she reached his side.

She shook her head. "Nope. It's completely natural. Think about it – Portgas uses fire, Jinbe uses water. And when fire and water clash…" her voice trailed off suggestively, "Well, you get steam, or mist in this case."

Kagome then turned to Whitebeard.

"_Shinou_? Really Jiji?" she mused, "Now that's a name I haven't heard in a while."

"Why not?" Whitebeard asked, "It suits you Kagome."

"If you say so…" her voice trailed off.

Even though she looked a little nostalgic, Marco was glad to see that hearing her old nickname hadn't affected her _that_ much. In the past, neither Marco nor Whitebeard had dared to mention it to her face for fear that she would suddenly burst into tears.

And it had happened before, as Marco had had the _fortune_ of learning.

"I have to agree. You should use your nickname more often, yoi. It sounds better than mine, or Oyaji's for that matter," he joked, earning a laugh from Kagome and a playful whack on his head, courtesy of Whitebeard.

"There's nothing wrong with my nickname, brat," Whitebeard stated calmly.

"I don't think 'Marco the Phoenix' sounds that bad," she smiled. "Even though it's kinda literal, it actually does suit you."

"Try having that nickname for a few decades before you offer me your opinion _little_ girl," Marco sniped back.

Kagome blinked, before turning to Whitebeard. "Jiji, how old _is_ Marco again?"

"Older than you," the phoenix retorted before Whitebeard could even open his mouth to reply, "And don't even bother asking anyone cause no one knows. My age is one of the biggest secrets of the crew, yoi." He sounded positively giddy with glee.

"Geez Marco, you act like such a woman," Kagome groused playfully.

"Someone has to between the two of us," he replied just as playfully, earning a smack to the arm from Kagome.

"Is this the day where I get abused by everyone, yoi?" he winced, grumbling to himself.

"You were asking for it," Kagome stated as a matter-of-factly.

Whitebeard grinned all the while at their exchange. "My children," he chided amusedly, "Behave yourselves."

As Marco and Kagome smiled at the old man sheepishly, a crewmember on the deck piped up. "Oyaji, Marco-taichou, Kagome-san! We're reaching the island in a few minutes!" he yelled to the three on the whale head.

"All right!" Marco yelled back in reply, before facing his father, "Do you have a plan Oyaji? Or do we just sail in and charge?" Pretty much a staple with the Whitebeard Pirates.

The old man was silent for a moment before he turned to the deck.

"Listen up my sons!" he spoke loudly to his men, "Keep our distance and observe the battle. Head for shore only when it's over!"

The men shouted in acknowledgment before resuming work.

Marco turned to Whitebeard, his brow raised slightly in curiosity. "I can sense this fight is about to end soon, and I'd like to see the outcome first," Whitebeard stated calmly to his adopted family.

They nodded in understanding.

Though the way he said it did sound a little cruel, Edward Newgate was anything but, and his children were perfectly aware of that. They knew that he honestly meant no ill will when he said what he said. If Jinbe's life had truly been in danger, Whitebeard wouldn't have given this set of instructions. Rather, he would have charged in immediately regardless of the risks to himself as Whitebeard always put his family above everything.

He was a great man like that, and Marco would gladly lay down his life for him.

"So…" another familiar voice drawled as he approached the trio on the whale head, "Who do you think is gonna win this little battle?"

Marco turned his head to regard the newest person lazily.

"Really Thatch," he deadpanned, "Must you gamble on everything, yoi?"

The man in question pouted. "What? It isn't exactly a bet Marco-chan!" he complained, inwardly cheering at the sight of the irritated tic that appeared on the phoenix's forehead, "I was only asking what everyone thought. Did you hear me asking how much you all wanted to cough up?"

"Stop calling me Marco-chan," the phoenix gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Why not?" Thatch smirked, "I think it's cute. Don't you agree, Kagome?"

"Oh yes, _very_," she stressed, smiling mirthfully.

Marco sighed deeply in mild annoyance, knowing that anything he said would just be used against him. Kagome smiled and poked him playfully in the chest. "Oh don't look so glum Marco-_chan_," she teased, before leaning in close to his ear. "At least Thatch didn't call you 'blue chicken' or 'flaming turkey' or something along the lines of that," she whispered with barely contained laughter.

Marco's eye twitched in irritation. "Do that and he's dead, yoi," he replied seriously.

"Hmmm… do what?" Thatch asked curiously.

"Nothing of importance Thatch." Kagome smiled pleasantly, "So… you asked something about Portgas and Jinbe…?"

Thatch either didn't notice or didn't seem to care as Kagome blatantly changed the subject. "Oh right. Who do you think is gonna win this little battle?"

"Who knows?" Marco said with a shrug. "And _no_, I'm not going to bet on it, yoi."

"Eh, but _why_?" Thatch almost whined.

He fixed Thatch with an unnerving stare, and was not surprised when the pompadour-haired man fidgeted nervously under it. No one except Whitebeard, Kagome and Mi- and his deceased lover were immune to it. The rest were all scared stiff.

"Because, I have better things to do in my life than gamble with you," Marco stated calmly.

Thatch frowned. "Keh. Stingy."

The phoenix smiled dryly. "And don't you forget it, yoi."

"Well… I say that it's going to end in a draw. After fighting for that long, they're bound to collapse from exhaustion sooner or later," Kagome said with a small frown before looking up to Whitebeard. "Jiji, what do you think?"

"I agree with Kagome," he replied, smirking down to his children, "So the real question is; who collapses first?"

"Jinbe," Marco, Thatch and Kagome immediately blurted out in perfect harmony.

Whitebeard raised an amused brow. "Oh? Why is that?"

Thatch grinned sheepishly, slightly embarrassed at the display of their apparent lack of faith in their ally. "Well Oyaji… let's be honest here. Jinbe isn't that young anymore. He's in his forties now. Portgas on the other hand is still in his teens. He's at the height of his joyous youth. So knowing that, and adding five days of non-stop battle between them, do you even need to ask us for the answer?"

"I hate to say it, but Thatch is right, yoi," Marco added quietly, while Kagome smiled in agreement.

"Oi! What's that supposed to mean?" Thatch grumbled, but was ignored.

"Well then, we'll have to see, won't we?" Whitebeard asked with a laugh.

"I say it's Jinbe first, and Portgas immediately after," Thatch stated before a crewmember with a spyglass yelled out loudly from the deck. "Oyaji! Jinbe's just collapsed!" he reported, still staring into the spyglass, "It seems like Portgas is the winner – no wait! Portgas collapsed too!"

Thatch grinned cheekily. "See? Told ya."

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello dearies.

This is a fusion of 2 fandoms instead of a crossover. So *winces* I may be bastardising canon facts concerning Devil Fruit mythology...

I mentioned before that Kagome used to be in a group called _The Three Kings,_ named as such because all of them had 'King' in their nicknames.

_Ryuuou_ and _Shinou_. I will reveal the last nickname in the future... (But I won't reveal the names of the characters)

We're finally going into Ace's POV in the next chapter!

~Jumpingbeans480


	7. Part One: The Very Shitty Day Of Ace

**Behind Blue Eyes**

*Edited 7 May 2015

* * *

Chapter 6: The Very Shitty Day Of Portgas D. Ace

.

**1st Year, 6 NOV**

.

Portgas D. Ace was exhausted.

After fighting for five days straight with that damn fish person, he certainly had a right to be.

He was also as pissed as _hell_, and he most definitely had a right to be for that.

Personally, Ace didn't mind collapsing from a fatigue so bad that it hurt even to _breathe_. It happened often enough in his childhood growing up with Dadan and the rest. So by now, he was simply used to it.

No, the thing that pissed him off was to fight five days straight with that damn fish person, only for their match to end in a draw.

_A freakin' draw._

How pathetic was that?

Having a draw was as good as losing in his opinion.

He fought against a guy who didn't have a Devil Fruit and was more than twice his age. And. He. Still. Lost.

_I'm such a good-for-nothing bastard_, he thought with pure self-loathing as he lay sprawled on the dirt. He longed for sleep, to get back just a little bit of his strength, and faintly wondered why his accursed narcolepsy hadn't kicked in yet.

"ACE!" he heard some of his nakama cry out for him in concern.

He struggled to get up, and from the corner of his vision he could make out something big approaching the shore.

_A whal_e_?_ he thought in tired confusion before he got a better look. _No, a ship._

A second or two passed before he collapsed face-first on the ground again, too tired to even look up anymore. Faintly, he could hear his nakama's worried babbling as the ship drew nearer and nearer.

"What _is_ that?" his first mate yelled out in fear.

"Which one of you wants to kill me?" Ace heard a deep voice call out, but he had no more energy to look up. "I'm gonna fight you as you wish."

"The Whitebeard Pirates?!" one of his nakama yelled out in terror.

_Oh fuck_, Ace thought in panic. He was in no condition to go head-to-head with Whitebeard now.

"I'm gonna fight you people single-handedly," the man who was supposedly Whitebeard declared.

As he heard Whitebeard descend the ship and approach his men, Ace struggled to get up. Even if he lost his life in the process, he would die before he let Whitebeard lay a hand on his nakama. Just as he got to his knees, Whitebeard reached him, and so did some of his men.

The aged pirate took one look at them before he waved his Bisento in an attack.

"Guys!" Ace yelled, watching in horror as his men were swept away by the sheer raw power of it.

It took him a split second to get his head together and he grit his teeth in concentration. "ENJOMO!" he yelled, drawing on his Devil Fruit. He stood up as a wall of fire formed, separating his men from him and Whitebeard.

"Ace-sencho, what are you doing?!" one of his men yelled.

"You guys run!" he ordered, half turning to the flaming wall. _I'm not gonna let you all die here._

"Sencho!" his first mate yelled in desperation, as if he were begging Ace to leave with them.

Whitebeard, who was watching the scene, grinned in faint amusement as he recalled Marco's words from before. "_Besides, pirates these days want adventure and riches, yoi. Not many care for family._"

_This one does, _he thought with interest.

"What's the matter? Are you backing away after all?" he asked instead.

Ace turned to regard him angrily. "Let my crew get away," he stated, "Instead… I'm staying!"

"You snot-nosed brat! Arrogant, aren't you?" Whitebeard questioned, his grin growing wider by the second. _You were wrong Marco. This brat cares more about his men than himself. He would fit right into our family._

Ace gave a loud yell as he launched himself at Whitebeard, who immediately swiped him away with his Bisento.

Even though Whitebeard attacked with the blunt end, the strength behind that attack was still able to draw blood. Ace flew dozens of feet away from the legendary pirate with a slash across his chest that was bleeding, and he was sure that he had cracked a couple of ribs.

Unsurprisingly, as he got up and launched himself at Whitebeard again, his next attack proved to be just as successful.

But still, Ace wouldn't be deterred. His men had often told him that he was stubborn as hell and had a bloody unbelievable endurance, so he was sure he could take this beating from Whitebeard. Besides, he just needed to fight until he was sure that all of his men had gotten away safely.

With that resolve in mind, he got up again and prepared for another attack.

_Just a little longer, hold on just a little longer,_ he chanted in his head, still attacking despite everything. He prayed his body could last.

Ace cried out in pain as one particular attack from Whitebeard slammed him back first into the ground. The impact was so great that even the earth cracked and a crater formed in its wake.

Ace turned his head to the side and coughed out blood. He grimaced in distaste. _Internal injuries, huh?_

Frankly, with Whitebeard's monstrous strength, he wasn't surprised in the least.

Ace forced himself to get up again and swayed unsteadily on his feet from the blood loss. Whitebeard was grinning at him in amusement and even though it was probably better that the man wasn't taking him seriously, Ace still got pissed off.

Well, Luffy always did say he had an unreasonable temper.

He made his arm ignite in flame and launched his signature move straight at Whitebeard. "HIKEN!"

The man deflected the ball of fire as if it was nothing, and Ace grit his teeth in irritation. He knew the attack wasn't at full strength because he was focusing most of his attention on the flame wall behind him, and he was still pretty exhausted from his previous battle with Jinbe. But _damn_ if it wasn't rather emasculating to see your favourite move swatted away like it was some insignificant fly.

"Is that all you've got brat?" Whitebeard grinned.

From behind the man Ace could see some of the Whitebeard Pirates sporting grins of their own as well. A member with a ridiculous pompadour hairstyle even broke out into a loud round of amused laughter.

Ace flushed mildly in embarrassment. "Shut up!"

The laughing crewmembers didn't stop, and Ace felt his body light up in fire. He was literally burning with anger. With a shout of fury he launched himself at Whitebeard again with his flaming fist outstretched.

Even though he kept getting beat back, Ace continued to get up and attack.

Even when his body was too tired or too in pain to do so anymore, Ace kept pushing himself to get up. He wouldn't let himself be defeated this easily. Not when his men counted on him to stall for time so they could escape.

And so, Portgas D. Ace fought with Edward Newgate through sheer willpower alone.

They fought until the Spade Pirates got away. They fought until the mists surrounding the island cleared up. They fought until the area was full of craters. They fought until the sun went down and the moon was high in the sky.

And they fought some more.

Portgas D. Ace knew that just his willpower alone wasn't enough to defeat Whitebeard. He was exhausted, injured and worst of all, famished. Not exactly a good combination if you wanted to fight the strongest pirate in the world and hope to win.

He also knew that even with his incredible willpower, his strength would still fail him eventually.

And so really, he should have expected that now would be the time he couldn't get up after getting beat down again. He was laying a few feet in front of Whitebeard, and he couldn't even move his fingers.

He was just _that_ tired.

Ace was sure that to everyone there it looked like he had died, because he was breathing so shallowly that it _looked_ like he wasn't breathing at all. Maybe now if the Whitebeard Pirates thought he was dead, they would leave him and his sorry ass behind.

_Yeah right_, he mentally scoffed.

Besides, he could feel Whitebeard's uninterested stare on his body, as if the man were saying, '_Is that really all you got, brat?_' And if there was one thing Ace hated in the world more than his father, it was being looked down upon by somebody.

'_Move damn it!_' he commanded his body.

His finger twitched in reply and slowly, he forced himself to lift his head up as well. Fuck, his body hurt like a bitch from the fight. "So this is the guy who contended for supremacy with _him_…" he mumbled to himself. This was the man who fought for the title of Pirate King with… _Roger_.

Ace grit his teeth so as not to cry out from the pain of his injuries, and clutched at the dirt, forcing his body to get up.

"I won't…" he began, now on his knees and supported by his lower arms. _Be defeated this easily! _

"Gurararara," Whitebeard laughed, "Still some fight left in you?"

Ace grit his teeth again to ward off the pain and he lifted up his face to stare at the man in defiance. Even if Whitebeard wanted to kill him, Ace wouldn't go down without a proper fight. He would go down fighting, rebelling, and resisting until his very last breath.

"You're too valuable to die now, boy," Whitebeard said instead.

Ace looked at him in shock. …_What?_

"If you still wanna run wild, run as wild as you want on the sea under my name," he continued to speak, and Ace looked away in shame. So, the man was going to spare him as an example for the rest of the world to let them know not to mess with Edward Newgate, was he? That was just–wait. Ace turned to look back at Whitebeard in surprise. The man had knelt down in front of him and extended his hand.

"Become my son!" Whitebeard declared proudly, and Ace felt his mind go blank in shock for a split-second.

But as soon as his mind started working again, he felt the anger build up inside of him easily. A _father_? Seriously? This man wanted to become his fucking _father_? Who the fuck did he think he was? Ace didn't need a father. Not now, not _ever_.

"Screw you!" he yelled, enraged.

That action used the remaining amount of his energy apparently, and Ace felt himself collapse onto the ground again. This time, he couldn't get up and he couldn't stay conscious any longer. He heard the sound of running footsteps drawing nearer and his vision started to grow dark just as a pair of feet came into his sight. Ace felt himself being rolled onto his back by someone, and as he stared into the eyes of that unknown person, he had but one thought before he lost consciousness.

_Huh, whaddya know? They're as blue as the sea._

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello my lovelies.

So, we finally get to see Ace. :D

He's angry, potty-mouthed, full of self-loathing and _super _fun to write. He also behaves like a _tsundere,_ according to my muse. But don't worry, he'll get better.

Since this is an Ace-centred chapter, I won't say much about the other characters_. _It'll all be in the future chapters.

~Jumpingbeans480


	8. Part One: Alone With The Injured

**Behind Blue Eyes**

*Edited 7 May 2015

* * *

Chapter 7: Alone Time With The Injured

.

**1st Year, 6 NOV**

.

Marco watched impassively as Kagome ran to Portgas' side after he collapsed for the final time. Frankly, the phoenix was surprised that the kid had managed to last this long against their father, considering that he fought against Jinbe beforehand. _For 120 hours straight no less._

The sound of thunderous footsteps drawing nearer snapped Marco out of his thoughts, and he smiled at the approaching form of his father.

"How was it, yoi?" he asked pleasantly, following after the man as they headed back towards their ship.

"The kid's got balls, I'll give him that," Whitebeard replied gruffly, "I ask him to become my son, and he yells at me to screw myself."

Marco raised his brow in amusement. The kid definitely had balls. Fucking huge balls in fact. In all the years he had known Whitebeard, the phoenix couldn't think of a single person besides Roger who had treated his father with such disrespect before – that is, until Portgas came along.

"What's your plan for him Oyaji?"

"I told Kagome to bring him aboard," Whitebeard replied with a grin, "That brat's too interesting to let go."

"He's not going to like that, yoi," Marco smiled, "I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to kill you when he wakes up."

Whitebeard's grin only widened, "Bring it on."

* * *

"Where do ya want him Kagome?"

"Over there," Kagome pointed to the cot next to Jinbe's as she entered the medical bay of the Moby Dick.

The two men, who were carrying the stretcher that held Portgas D. Ace, nodded and did as they were told. Once they got Portgas in the cot, they gave Kagome a respectful nod before they left, no doubt going back to their duties.

Kagome let out a soft sigh as she began gathering the supplies necessary for treating his wounds. Once she had everything, she made her way over to him.

As she passed Jinbe's cot, the fishman let out a snort in his sleep. His injuries were not as bad as she had originally expected, and Kagome even supposed that his fishman heritage helped lessen the severity of his burns. After healing him, the only thing that Jinbe needed now was some rest for his exhaustion.

Portgas on the other hand – he was in much, much worse shape.

Sprains, scrapes, slashes, gashes, bruises, internal injuries, broken bones, a concussion and exhaustion were a rough summary of what he had. Kagome honestly couldn't believe how long he had managed to fight against Whitebeard with his body in such a condition.

_Looks like we have another stubborn idiot on this ship,_ she thought with a sigh. _As if Jiji wasn't bad enough…_

Once Kagome reached his side, she carefully put down the supplies and stared at him with an impassive look on her face. She noticed how he had a tattoo on his left arm that misspelled his name.

_A drunken mistake, perhaps?_

But no, Kagome was sure that from what she had seen of his temper so far, Portgas wouldn't have let the tattoo artist complete the job. He probably would have killed the person for botching it up instead. And he didn't seem like the type of guy who would vainly spell out the correct pronunciation of one's name. So maybe his tattoo was one of remembrance. It seemed like the most likely option, and one she could empathise with.

Kagome continued in her perusal of him. She noticed how young he was – from what she had seen of his bounty he was only seventeen, a year younger than her own eighteen years. She noticed how he had freckles splashed on both of his cheeks. She noticed how tall he was. She noticed how nicely muscled his chest was.

And lastly, she noticed how undeniably handsome he was.

_Not that _that_ would mean anything_, she thought with a faint smile, shaking her head.

Sure Portgas was a handsome fellow, but other than that so what? It wasn't like Kagome was the type of girl who turned into a crazy, googly eyed girl ruled by her hormones every time a handsome man with a hot body came along.

Nope, she definitely wasn't.

In fact, Marco sometimes even liked to joke that Kagome was asexual because of her lack of interest in the opposite sex.

But then again, what did the phoenix know? Obviously no one knew her body better than Kagome herself, and so she could confidently say that she was neither asexual nor a lesbian. She was interested in men. Or, to be more precise – she was interested in a _man_. Just one. She had even lost her virginity to him.

But now after everything that's happened… Kagome supposed she wasn't that interested in romance anymore.

Another snort from Jinbe's cot snapped her out of her musings.

Kagome let out a sheepish laugh, shaking her head. What was she doing? Now wasn't the time to be thinking about all this. She had a patient that needed to be treated first. And if she still wanted to reminisce, then she could do it after she helped him, couldn't she?

* * *

Portgas didn't so much as twitch during the whole time Kagome treated him. When she swabbed a stinging antiseptic over his open wounds, he didn't react. When she bound his broken ribs, he didn't react. Even when she reset his broken bones, he didn't react.

_That guy is either the heaviest sleeper I've ever known, or he's just that tired_, Kagome thought in amusement, watching him with a critical eye.

_Nope, he's just that tired._ She smiled faintly, shaking her head. Time to get back to work. There was still plenty much to be done. Basically, all Kagome had just done was disinfect his wounds and reset his broken bones.

Now came the actual healing part.

Without wasting another moment, Kagome headed over to her desk and took out a small metal tub. It was around the size of a dishpan and was generally used by people to soak their towels in to clean their face. Then she filled it with water and carried it over to the dresser beside Portgas' cot. On the way she grabbed a chair using her free hand and once she set the tub on the dresser, she pulled the chair beside the bed and sat down.

Then, she put her hand in the water.

Taking a brief moment to focus, Kagome then lifted her hand out of the tub. While this action seemed fairly ordinary, there was something unordinary about it as well. It wasn't only her hand that came out of the tub.

The water did too.

Indeed, the water was forming some sort of protective cocoon around her hand and while it vaguely resembled a gooey type of glob, if one were to touch it however, they would find out that it was just ordinary water.

No special tricks. Nothing. Just water.

Kagome placed her hand over Portgas' torso and closed her eyes. She exhaled deeply, concentrating on her power. Once she was ready, she opened her eyes and the water in her hand started to glow.

_This_ was why she was the doctor.

She had the ability to neutralize poisons and heal anything ranging from the minor to the critically injured. On a very slim chance, she might also be able to heal those who were fatally wounded. But, she couldn't restore lost body parts, and neither could she bring back the dead. Also, Kagome couldn't go on healing so many people at once. She had her limit, as healing people drained her energy. If she healed too many, she might end up fainting. Or in the worst case, dying.

Kagome wasn't God with her abilities, though some people seemed to think so. Hence why they called her _Shinou._

First, she would heal all of Portgas' internal injuries. Next would be the broken bones, the open wounds and finally the bruises. Then when she was done she could finally head back to hers and Marco's room for some well-deserved rest.

_At least, I hope so,_ she thought with a tired sigh as she continued. _Please don't let me pass out by the end of this healing session._

Healing internal injuries on a person was tricky business and needed precise energy control along with every bit of concentration she had. If Kagome were even the slightest bit distracted, she might make a mistake and possibly screw up the person's injured organ or his circulatory system for life.

A daunting consequence, to say the least.

Once she was done with his internal injuries, she moved on to his broken bones, which was also tricky business. Healing cracks in the bones wasn't as easy as it sounded. Then, she started on his open wounds. Finally, it was just down to his bruises and as Kagome watched her glowing hand, she felt something shift in the air.

She paused, depositing the water back into the tub and from the corner of her eye she noticed a flicker of movement.

Jinbe was awake. And he was watching her.

"Hello Jinbe-san," she greeted with a polite smile, "How are you feeling?"

The fishman sat up from his cot and shrugged his shoulders experimentally. Once he was satisfied with the results, he nodded to himself before he turned to face her with an intrigued expression on his face.

"Your work I'm guessing?" He indicated to his healed body.

She nodded. "I'm Kagome, the doctor aboard the Moby Dick."

"Thank you Kagome-san," he replied courteously, "Do you know where Oyaji-san is?"

"He should be with Marco in the captain's quarters. I'll take you to him if you want," she paused and glanced down at Portgas, "Though, if you don't mind, I'd like to finish healing him first."

Jinbe nodded and remained seated on the bed.

He watched with narrowed eyes as Kagome dipped her hand into the water again before holding it over Portgas. He continued to watch as the water surrounding her hand started to glow and what was previously injured was healed.

"Interesting ability," he commented.

Kagome glanced up, slightly surprised that he had even spoken to her.

"Thank you," she replied slowly, unsure of his intentions.

"Devil Fruit?"

She gave his question a brief moment of consideration.

"It gives me the ability to heal myself and others." She worded her answer carefully, having been asked this same question many times before over the past two years. And though some would have disagreed with her answer, Kagome knew that what she said about her abilities was true – from a certain point of view.

"Does it drain your energy?" Jinbe asked politely.

Kagome nodded. "If I'm not careful, it could kill me."

Jinbe hummed to himself. "I see," he murmured, staring at the floor. After a minute or so, he looked up to meet her eyes, and it took all of Kagome's willpower not to flinch under his intense stare.

Marco's stare she could handle, but not _this_.

"…Do not assume that I'm a fool _Shinou_, because I can assure you I most certainly am not," he began in a calm voice, and though Kagome didn't lose control over the water in her hand, she felt her heartbeat quicken at his use of her old nickname.

He knew who she was. _He knew who she was._

"I know perfectly well what you are capable of and what your full abilities are," he continued on with a meaningful look in her direction, "And I have to say, I never expected to find someone like you here in Oyaji-san's crew."

Kagome looked away.

"…You won't tell anyone, will you?" she questioned softly.

"…I won't," he stated softly, and Kagome felt herself looking at him in surprise, "You have helped me, and I may be a Marine's lapdog, but I still have my pride. You have my word that your identity is safe with me."

"…Thank you Jinbe-san," Kagome said at last.

"No need to thank me Kagome-san," he replied, and the raven-haired woman couldn't be sure if he was smiling or grimacing at her. She nodded and then went back to healing Portgas, and the two did not speak again until she was done.

"I'll take you to see Jiji now," she informed him softly.

Jinbe nodded and got out of bed. He slipped on his clogs and followed Kagome out of the doorway. There were very few people on deck now and Jinbe's wooden clogs seemed especially loud clattering against the floor.

As they headed for Whitebeard's room side by side, Jinbe spoke up.

"…Why did you retire?"

Kagome paused in mid-step and he stopped with her.

Around three years back, as one of the famed _Three Kings _of the Silver Dog Pirates, Kagome had undoubtedly been one of the strongest rookies in the New World. She'd had quite a future ahead of her but soon after the death of her captain, she just gave everything up and _vanished_ from the world.

Jinbe had never heard about her again. Until now.

And he wanted to know why.

He watched her silently as she considered his question. There was a strange expression on her face; one torn between nostalgia, sadness and guilt, and Jinbe didn't understand the reason behind it.

After a moment or two, that expression faded and Kagome resumed walking.

Jinbe watched her take a few steps forward with a pensive look on his face before he followed after her towards Whitebeard's room. And this time, he didn't speak up to remind her that she didn't answer his question.

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello my lovelies.

Her nickname, _Shinou,_ literally translates into God King. I think it fits though. She spends most of her life at sea, and has water-based powers strong enough to influence the currents/waves and make a ship the size of the Moby Dick travel a lot faster. So I think the people who know that Kagome has this power would undoubtedly dub her a God.

Also, Ryuuou translates into Dragon King. And the last of The Three Kings is called _Maou, _which translates into Demon King. Both of them are _Inuyasha _characters. :D

~Jumpingbeans480


	9. Part One: Into Babysitting They Go

**Behind Blue Eyes**

*Edited 7 May 2015

* * *

Chapter 8: Into Babysitting They Go

.

**1st Year, 7 NOV**

.

Marco was having a pleasant chat with Whitebeard when he heard a soft knock on the door.

"Jiji, you still up in there?" a voice that Marco knew all too well asked from behind the large wooden door, "It's Kagome here. Jinbe-san's awake and I've brought him to see you like you wanted."

Marco furrowed his eyes slightly.

Call him paranoid or overly sensitive all you want, but there was something… _off_ about Kagome. The phoenix didn't know how he knew or why he knew. He just _knew_ that there was something wrong.

"Come in," Whitebeard called out, and the door clicked open.

Kagome stepped inside with Jinbe following closely behind, and Marco felt a twinge of concern in his chest when he saw her eyes. There was a look in them that only appeared whenever she thought about a certain part of her past.

Faintly, Marco wondered what happened that would cause her to remember it.

Kagome walked up to stand beside Marco and when he turned to look at her, she could see the slight concern in his eyes. _What happened? Are you all right?_

Sometimes, it unnerved her how he could be so perceptive of her moods.

She shook her head and smiled softly at him in reassurance. _It's nothing. Don't worry about it._

The phoenix didn't look convinced in the least, but when Kagome turned her attention back to Whitebeard, he regarded her for a moment longer before following as well. They kept silent and listened to Jinbe's conversation with the old man.

"Thank you for your help Oyaji-san," Jinbe said with a respectful bow.

Whitebeard shook his head. "No need to thank me son. More importantly… how are you feeling? Anything still injured?"

Jinbe smiled dryly, "Just my pride."

Whitebeard returned his smile, though there wasn't sarcasm behind it. "The new generation is getting stronger, isn't it?" he commented to the other three present in the room. Both Marco and Jinbe sneaked a glance at Kagome after he said that. _How true._

"I agree, yoi," Marco agreed up with a faint smile.

"And how's that brat doing Kagome?" Whitebeard asked curiously.

The raven-haired woman looked at the aged pirate in mild irritation. "He's fine now, but did you have to beat him up _that_ badly Jiji?" she answered with an easy roll of her eyes, "The kid was in horrible shape when the men brought him in."

Whitebeard grinned unrepentantly. "I _did_ go easy on the 'kid'. If I didn't, he'd be dead."

Kagome sighed in exasperation and turned to the man at her side. "Marco, help me out here," she requested, "When Portgas came in, he had a bad concussion, a broken collarbone, a broken wrist, a broken leg, five cracked ribs, four broken, internal bleeding in both his mild and major organs, a hell of a lot of lacerations and bruising all over his body. How is _that_ going easy on him Jiji?"

The phoenix raised his hands in mock surrender. "Leave me out of this, yoi. I'm neutral."

Kagome glared at him. "Coward…" she groused.

"Gurararara, but you know I'm right Kagome…"

She nodded seriously. "Yeah, I know that. It's just…" her voice trailed off, and though she didn't say more, Whitebeard understood. "_Kagome doesn't like any unnecessary violence. Strangers, allies, friends, loved ones; it doesn't matter to her," _Marco had told him.

"Son," he began, looking at Jinbe, "What do you plan to do now?"

Jinbe took a moment to think before he replied. "I'd like to re-join my men, Oyaji-san."

Whitebeard raised his brow. "You sure?" he said slowly, "You know you can stay here until you recover."

The fishman nodded. "I know Oyaji-san, and your kindness is appreciated. But, I'd still like to leave."

"All right, if that's what you want…" he hummed.

"Then I'll be leaving now, Oyaji-san," Jinbe nodded respectfully.

"You need an escort, son?"

He shook his head. "I know the way. Thank you again Oyaji-san, Kagome-san, Marco-san." He looked them in the eyes as he said their names. Then, he turned around headed towards the door. Even after he left the room, the remaining three were able to hear the faint sounds of his clogs heading down the corridor.

"Well now…" Marco let out a soft sigh, "Wasn't that fun?"

Kagome smiled slightly in amusement. "I think he's just bitter that his fight with Portgas ended in a draw. I'm sure he'll be back to his usual self in no time. Unless of course, that _was_ his usual self…"

She turned to Marco for clarification, but he only smiled enigmatically.

"Son, once he's off the ship, give the orders for the men to set sail," Whitebeard informed his first division commander, "I'd like us away from this island and back on our previous route as soon as possible."

"Got it Oyaji," Marco nodded.

"And ask those on lookout duty to be careful. Those Spade Pirates don't seem like the type to surrender their captain so easily," Whitebeard said with a huge grin, "They might try and get him back."

Marco nodded. "If they do?"

"Bring 'em aboard. Our family's always got room for more." The old man looked positively pleased at the thought of even more sons to call his own.

"And what about Portgas?" Kagome asked softly, "Do you still want him to stay in the infirmary, or move him someplace else?"

Whitebeard was silent for a moment, thinking of his answer.

"I was hoping to assign Marco to look out for him…" he finally stated, much to the surprise of the phoenix, "I can't let any of the other men watch him. He's a rookie, but he's a strong little shit, full of untapped potential. They won't be able to handle his Devil Fruit. You're the best man for the job."

Marco levelled a lazy stare at his father. "You give me the worst orders, yoi."

Whitebeard laughed, "Because I know you're able to handle it."

"So if Marco is in charge of Portgas…" Kagome drawled, "… Then I take it he's rooming with us?"

"Only if you're both fine with it," he replied easily.

She let out an easy shrug. "I don't really mind, but…" her voice trailed off and she turned to Marco. The two looked at each other in a silent communication and after a few moments they turned back to Whitebeard.

"It's all right with us Jiji," she told him.

"Thanks you two," he replied sincerely.

Marco cracked a wry smile. "We couldn't refuse you even if we wanted to, yoi," he joked, before turning serious. "Well, I'll go and relay the orders to the men. You should rest now Oyaji. You've had a long day."

Whitebeard nodded. "All right."

"Goodnight Jiji," Kagome smiled, before she and Marco headed out the door.

* * *

Once Marco had given the men their orders, he and Kagome headed towards the medical bay. Along the way, the phoenix noticed the raven-haired woman yawning and occasionally swaying in her stride.

He raised his brow. "Tired, yoi?"

She nodded, using her hand to cover her mouth as she yawned again. "It's been a while since I used my powers this much. My body's a little out of practice," she replied, trying to blink away her exhaustion.

Using her abilities continually on such an enormous scale for an entire day, not to mention healing Portgas and Jinbe, it was no wonder she was burned out.

"You want to head back to our room first?"

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I think I can handle being awake for 15 more minutes," she told him with a wry smile.

The two arrived at the medical bay and it took a few seconds for their eyes to adjust to the dimness of it. Portgas was still lying where Kagome had left him, and on further inspection, she could confidently say that he hadn't moved _at all_. Not even to toss or turn in his sleep. If she didn't see the rise and fall motion of his chest, she would have thought he was dead.

"Is he all healed up now?" Marco asked, eying Portgas with a lazy gaze.

"Yeah. Now he just needs to sleep it off," Kagome replied tiredly.

Without another word, Marco strode over the Portgas and lifted him up, bridal style. And the two made such a hot picture together that Kagome tried not to grin at the dirty images developing in her head.

Although she wasn't interested in romance, it didn't mean that she was blind.

It was clear to all that Portgas was extremely handsome. And though she wasn't attracted to him in _that_ way, Marco wasn't that bad looking himself either. So, the point was, even someone like Kagome could appreciate the sight of two hot men together. And why couldn't she?

The woman just didn't find it disgusting for two men to sleep together.

Life on he seas for over a decade had stripped her of quite a few morals. Pirate crews were usually made out of men, and they would be sailing for as long as several months without land or women in sight. If they ever developed any _urges_ during those long months out, they would either got really acquainted with their hands or would sought to curb that urge with their crewmates in a friends with benefits sort of situation.

It was mostly for sex, though some people did end up falling in love.

Kagome smiled slightly as she recalled two of her male nakama from her previous crew that had fallen in love after having one such relationship. They had gotten together before she left them, and based on the letter that she received from her old crew the other day, their relationship was still going strong.

"You coming?" Marco called from the doorway of the medical bay, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Kagome smiled. "Yeah."

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello dearies. A bit of a filler chapter here.

We have Kagome and Marco being assigned as Ace's babysitters. It's kind of inspired by the concept of a 'sea daddy', whereby an older man was assigned to a young boy in the navy, typically a cabin boy/powder monkey/etc, to teach them the ropes and act as a support system.

Ace already knows about life on a pirate ship, so this is more of a 'keep him out of trouble' duty.

As for Kagome's backstory... She was originally part of the Silver Dog Pirates, but left because something she did led to the death of her captain, the mysterious _him_ that she keeps referring to. :)

And that last part about men sleeping together... Kagome in this story isn't wary or fearful of homosexuality because of the life she lives. Like she explains, pirates crews made up of mostly men spend a lot of time on sea so this is a fairly common occurrence to her. (The two men who are in a mentioned by Kagome to be in a relationship are both _Inuyasha _characters.)

I hope the homosexuality doesn't make anyone uncomfortable. And I'll just get this out of the way now. I am a bisexual girl, so I_ will_ be writing/including LGBT elements in the future. Sorry but my mind is made up. If you don't like it, you're allowed to stop reading it. No one's forcing you here.

PS: My personal headcanon for this fic is that Marco is bi. :P

~Jumpingbeans480


	10. Part One: Sleep Is For The Weak

**Behind Blue Eyes**

*Edited 7 May 2015

* * *

Chapter 9: Sleep Is For The Weak

.

**1st Year, 7 NOV**

.

As Kagome and Marco walked down the corridor to their shared room with Portgas in his arms, Kagome could practically feel the weight of the stares from the many men still working on deck. She could also faintly hear their whispering as she and Marco passed by them.

Marco stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Get back to work, yoi," he barked, levelling them with a serious look.

The men paled and quickly scrambled back to work. They knew Marco well enough to tell when he was short of losing his temper. And like they said before – Marco-taichou was scary as fuck when he was pissed off.

"Cut them some slack. They're just curious Marco," Kagome told him diplomatically.

Marco's stern face relaxed into a smile. "I know, yoi."

Kagome raised a brow, but didn't say anything more. Marco probably acted like he lost his temper to mess with them, as he was sometimes fond of doing. Though he may not show it, that man had one hell of a weird sense of humour.

It sometimes even crossed the lines of pure sadism.

The two pirates reached their room and Kagome entered first to light the oil lamps while Marco stayed at the doorway. His gaze flickered from his side of the room to Kagome's, taking note of all their belongings on each respective side. Once the lamps were lit, he strode over to Kagome's bed, gently lay Portgas down – he wasn't so mean as to just dump the kid on the bed – and covered him with a blanket.

"…You should move your belongings to my drawers, yoi," Marco began softly, "The two on the bottom are empty."

Kagome looked at him with surprised eyes. "…You sure?"

She had to ask. She had to make sure that Marco had really said that, and that she wasn't just hearing things. Because until a year ago, those two bottom drawers had not been empty. They had contained the belongings of his lover. She was a person that Marco had truly and deeply loved, and her death had broken something in him. It had taken months for him to be able to smile again, to feel again, to live again.

And now, to ask her to put her things into _those_ drawers…

Marco nodded. "Yeah. No point in them being empty. The purpose to having a drawer is for you to store your things in them, yoi," he smiled wryly, "And since Portgas is commandeering your side of the room, it's natural that he use your drawers for his stuff."

Kagome eyed him uncertainly.

"Also," Marco's smile turned a little sad, "I would prefer it if you were the one to use those drawers, not him."

There was a moment of silence between them as Kagome considered his request.

"… I just can't say no to you, can I?" she finally said with a sigh, "Both to you _and_ Jiji."'

"That's true, yoi."

She raised her brow at him and started emptying her drawers. "It was a rhetorical question Marco."

The phoenix smiled wryly, "I know."

Then, without saying another word, he took off his shirt and placed it neatly on the chair by his desk. Next came his belt, sash and leg-wrap, and they joined his shirt on the chair. Finally, he took off his sandals and placed them at the foot of the bed before climbing in. He lay down on his side with his head propped up by his hand and watched silently as Kagome moved from one end of the room to the other, transferring her stuff.

And when the task was completed, he continued to watch even as she started changing for bed.

The shirt, pants were folded and placed in a neat pile at the foot of the bed along with her boots. The next to go was the bra. Marco got a brief look at the sight of Kagome's beautifully decorated body before it was hidden under an old shirt.

"Ready for bed now, yoi?" Marco spoke up once she was done and as she climbed in, he moved to make room for her.

"Am I _ever_…" she sighed in relief, and let out a soft hum of approval as he spooned her from behind. Kagome felt the steady rhythm of Marco's steady heartbeat on her back and she closed her eyes. Soon, her breathing evened out and Marco knew she was fast asleep.

"Goodnight Kagome," he whispered, pressing a kiss to the back of her head.

Then, he closed his eyes, and after a while, he too slipped into slumber.

* * *

Marco came awake to the sound of someone knocking on his door.

"Marco-taichou? You up?" a voice called out softly as the rapping stopped.

"Yeah," the phoenix replied in a tone loud enough to be heard from the outside, before carefully extracting himself from the sleeping girl in his arms. As he did so, his eyes glanced at the clock. Only a few hours had passed. There could only be one reason for the men to bother him this early.

Portgas' crew.

As Marco put on his clothes, he saw Kagome stir from their bed.

"Marco?" Her voice still sounded heavy with sleep. "What's wrong?"

"Probably the Spade Pirates coming to take back their captain," he replied honestly, finding nothing wrong in her knowing. Though a pirate he may be, he wasn't the kind of man to lie, and especially not to her.

"It's not a big deal. Go back to sleep, yoi," he added as an afterthought.

When he did not hear her reply, he turned to head towards the door, thinking that it was the end of it. But really, the phoenix should have known better, considering that it was Kagome here.

"The hell it's not," he finally heard her mutter. She didn't sound sleepy anymore.

The floorboards creaked as she got out of bed and Marco turned to regard her as she changed into her usual attire. Kagome was in the middle of tying on her boots when she paused, noticing her companion staring at her with his brow raised in a silent question.

She sighed softly.

"Marco-_chan_," she began, still focused on her task, and ignored the soft growl of annoyance from the man, "Allow me to clue you in on something about your pirate crew. Every. _Single_. Member. Of The. Damn Whitebeard Pirates cannot understand the meaning of the phrase _holding back_," she stressed with a roll of her eyes. "Am I wrong?"

Marco's mouth tugged upwards into a reluctant smile and he shook his head – they didn't indeed.

"In fact, holding back for you guys probably means a completely different thing compared to normal people. So…" her voice trailed off thoughtfully as put on her shirt, "in a nutshell, the Whitebeard Pirates are going to go all out, the Spade Pirates are going to go all out, and that equals a battleground of epic proportions. You'll need me to heal everyone's injuries."

Marco looked into her eyes. "You're not tired, yoi?"

She shrugged. "Oh, I'm tired all right. But is that little fact going to make you guys change your minds about controlling yourselves?" she asked him dryly, and when he didn't reply, she continued on, "I didn't think so. But I _should_ have enough energy left not to pass out after healing everybody. The sleep did me some good."

Marco stared at her, unconvinced.

"Kagome, you know you don't have to do this if you're too tired—" he opened his mouth to reply, but never got the chance to finish. Both of them swayed a little as they felt the ship suddenly shake.

They'd been hit.

"Marco-taichou, you there?" The knocking continued again. "Our starboard's been hit and the others are already fighting."

Marco cast a glance at Portgas' dark form over on the other side of the room – he was still dead to the world – before making his way towards the door. He felt Kagome following behind him but said nothing, having resigned himself to her getting her way, as she always did. He opened the door and stepped outside, and the several crewmembers standing there greeted him respectfully.

Marco assigned a few of them to stand guard over Portgas before they started moving down the corridor to the part of the ship where the attack was. And as they walked the rest dutifully reported on the situation.

Pretty soon the group arrived outside and at the battle zone, the main deck.

Marco stood by the sidelines and calmly took in the situation while the crewmembers that were with him immediately ran off to join in on the battle. The phoenix was able to recognize those from his side out of the many men that were fighting in the battle, and it looked like all of his brothers were having fun. Also, he could see that none of the other commanders there had joined in yet, preferring to stand aside like some of the men were doing and just watch the fun.

Well, Marco wasn't going to be one of those men.

In his opinion, there was nothing more soothing for the soul than a good rough and tumble every once in a while.

Marco walked forward and readied himself to change into his phoenix form, but paused when he heard Kagome call his name. He turned around to look at her, slightly surprised that she hadn't entered the battle yet to heal the wounded.

She smiled tiredly. "Try not to kill anyone for me, would you? I know it means less work for me, but…"

The phoenix didn't need to reply her with things like, 'I won't' or 'I promise'. He didn't even need to say a single word for his meaning to get across. He simply looked into her eyes and Kagome immediately fell silent.

She had her answer. "Thanks."

Marco returned her smile with his own and he reached out to touch her cheek tenderly. Kagome didn't lean in to his touch, and neither did she shy away. She just looked at him with those captivating blue eyes of hers.

"Don't overexert yourself, yoi," he reminded softly as he let his hand fall.

She nodded once, before stepping back and running to the nearest injured man she could see. Marco watched her start to heal the man before he turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

His inner phoenix was getting riled up from all the fighting going on and wanted out to be let out. Marco didn't waste another second. He readily surrendered to the call of his Devil Fruit and set the phoenix free. He felt the familiar blue flames tickling at his fingers before enveloping up his entire body. He felt skin give way to feathers of the softest texture, felt his neck elongate and felt his mouth stretch out into a beak.

Within the span of a few seconds, Marco stood in the full glory of his phoenix form.

There were some cries of shock from the Spade Pirates near him, while his own crew cheered in delight. Marco paid them all no mind, as his gaze was focused on the raven-haired woman bent over the prone form of an injured pirate. She looked up when she felt his stare on her, and a soft smile curved on her lips.

"Have fun," she mouthed to him.

Marco smirked and nodded once, before spreading his wings.

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello my lovelies. :)

Previously, I said that there was a gay couple in this story universe and that they were both _Inuyasha _characters. Well, the characters are Jakotsu and Bankotsu. My guess is they'll probably be making an appearance around Part 10.

Now, about this chapter.

So not only are Kagome and Marco babysitting Ace, he's also going to be rooming with them! The issue of them sleeping in the same bed even though they're not lovers will be brought up in the future.

Although Kagome and Marco's behaviour with each other can be considered romantic, I can assure you that it's not. I'm serious here. The whole time I was plotting this monster fic, it _never_ occurred to me to make their relationship romantic. Because it didn't _feel right_.

In a sense, Marco and Kagome are soulmates, kindred spirits, who aren't romantically or sexually attracted to one another. It is completely platonic on both ends. Yes, they are aware that the other is good looking, but to put it crudely there hasn't even been one single moment where they looked at each other and thought, "Mm, I would tap that."

I think I described their relationship as something like this a few chapters back.

Both of them have loved someone deeply and with all of their heart. But events happened in a way that ended up with their previous someones dying. The two feel immense pain and guilt over their deaths, because they feel like it was their fault. They constantly wonder about the 'What Ifs?'.

Like "If I did this faster, could I have saved her?" or "If I had never fought with _The Dragon_, would he have died?"

I've probably said this a lot too, but Marco and Kagome understand what the other is going through in a way no one else on the crew does because of that loss. It's primarily why they're get along so well. Even though they're not lovers, that doesn't stop them from taking platonic comfort from each other. *laughs*

Also, I think that if they were ever to enter a relationship with each other, it wouldn't work out in the long run.

Because although Marco and Kagome love each other, they can never fully be what the other needs. To use a metaphor, they're like the same jigsaw shape, and no matter how hard they try to fit together, they won't. They need someone else, a different jigsaw shape, to complete them.

~Jumpingbeans480


	11. Part One: Hell - It Must Be Hell

**Behind Blue Eyes**

*Edited 7 May 2015

* * *

Chapter 10: Hell - It Must Be Hell

.

**1st Year, 10 NOV**

.

Portgas D. Ace was in heaven.

Or at least, he thought he was.

He felt warm – but it was the good sort of warm that left you wanting for more. He felt well rested – it was the best sleep he's had in years. He felt comfortable – the bed he was lying in was soft, and he knew it wasn't his own bed because it didn't feel this comfy, or smell this nice.

Ace inhaled deeply, filling his nostrils with the sweet scent.

It smelt of the ocean, and of home, but underneath it all the scent unmistakably belonged to… a woman?

He shot up from bed as memories flooded his mind – fighting with Jinbe, meeting Whitebeard, fighting Whitebeard to let his crew escape, getting his ass kicked by Whitebeard, the aged pirate asking him to become his son, and the blurry image of blue eyes.

Had that last part been a hallucination?

Ace rubbed his temples wearily. He couldn't be sure. Back then, he had been too tired and too injured to think logically, so he wouldn't be surprised in the least if it _had_ been something he cooked up in a delirium.

_Stop wondering about that. Focus on the present_, his logical side reminded.

Ace stopped rubbing his temples and looked around the room he was in.

He was on a ship out on the ocean, but he knew he wasn't on _his_ ship, and there could only be one possible place for him to be at now – it was also the one place he would rather die than be at, but still, a guy could hope, couldn't he?

The room was big – as big as the captain's quarters on his own ship – bare and surprisingly tidy.

There was another bed at the other side of the room and it looked well slept in, so Ace knew that he had a roommate. A chest of drawers was beside the bed, and there was also a desk with a chair near the bed. Documents were stacked in neat piles on the desk, and there was a porthole directly above it. But that was about it for furniture. Ace already said that the room was bare, didn't he?

His eyes travelled over the walls in the room. A clock, bare, bare, bare and a flag which hung high on the wall, near the ceiling.

_Well, shit_, Ace thought bluntly. There was no mistaking that Jolly Roger.

Whitebeard's mark.

Ace grit his teeth in frustration. _Great_, he was now a captive on that man's ship like some pansy-assed damsel in distress.

How utterly humiliating. If Luffy could see him now, he would be laughing his ass off. Or trying to rescue him. Either way, both choices made Ace as embarrassed as hell to think about it because he wasn't a freaking damsel damn it!

He could take care of himself!

_Oh yeah, getting yourself captured is a _great_ way of taking care of yourself_, a voice whispered.

_Shut it_, he growled back, and fortunately, the voice listened to him.

The following silence in his head gave Ace the peace to plan out his next moves. Okay first he would find out what happened to his crew. Next, he would kill Whitebeard, find a boat and get the hell off of this ship if his injuries didn't slow him down. Then he would–

Wait a minute…

Ace blinked before he started checking his bodies for injuries. Surprise blossomed on his freckled face when he realized that he was in perfect condition. Other than the muck and grime, there wasn't a single bruise or scratch on his body.

What the hell? Exactly how long had he been out for?

He was sure that before he passed out, he had been in seriously bad shape from the beating he got from Whitebeard. So unless he had been sleeping for a week or more, there could not be a plausible reason for him to be completely healed.

So how…?

His expression hardened. Instead of just thinking about all the possible theories, why not actually get his answers by asking someone from the Whitebeard Pirates? It saved him hell a lot of time and was also considerably easier. But at the expense of his pride…

_No_, he thought, _I need answers and I need them now!_

Without wasting another moment to rethink his decision, Ace kicked off the covers and headed towards the door. Opening it led him into a long hallway and it took some time for him to find the door leading to where he hopefully believed was the main deck.

It creaked loudly as he opened it, and Ace found himself wincing at the blinding sunlight that streamed through. He lifted his hand to try and block off the worst of the sun's rays, and walked forward to the railing. There was a faint breeze in the air that was refreshingly cool for a hot day such as this, and for a moment Ace closed his eyes in bliss, savouring the wind that seemed to caress his face.

He opened them again to stare past the railing, and felt his heart grow heavy.

Ocean. Extending as far as the eye could see.

Ace turned around dazedly and felt the strength leave his legs. Finally, they grew too weak to support him anymore and he landed unceremoniously on his butt. He didn't seem bothered by it and instead hunched over, bringing his hands up to his head.

He was screwed.

There weren't any islands in sight, and even if he wanted to escape, he wouldn't know where to head to because for starters, Ace had absolutely no idea where he was. How was he supposed to escape to the nearest island when he didn't know where it was?

The log pose on his arm wouldn't be much help, and a map on the Grand Line was pretty useless too.

_Should I just choose a random direction and set sail?_ Ace wondered, and took a moment to reconsider. Finally he shook his head in refusal. _No, if I did that, it'd simply be like suicide. Fuck!_

"Hey!" a voice called, snapping Ace out of his thoughts.

He looked up immediately, ready for battle if the person wanted to pick a fight. He blinked in mild surprise to see the guy who had laughed at him when Whitebeard deflected his Hiken attack – the guy with that ridiculous pompadour hairstyle.

"I'm the 4th division commander," he introduced before taking a few steps backwards. "Thatch."

Ace didn't reply and instead looked at him with slight curiosity. Why was that guy introducing himself to him in a manner that made them seem like buddies? Wasn't Ace supposed to be their enemy? Didn't they care that he wanted to kill their captain?

"If you're gonna join us," Thatch continued, jumping up on the rail and crossing his legs, "We should become friends."

"Shut up!" Ace immediately yelled back, before bringing his hands up to his head again. Shit, what was it with that guy? Who wanted to join their crew? Who wanted to become friends with him? Ace sure as hell didn't!

Thatch only laughed.

"So you're grumpy when you wake up?" he asked jovially, "Oh yeah, you wanna know what happened after you passed out? I'll tell you. Your crew came to get you back, so we beat the hell out of them."

Ace flinched. _Fuck, what did they do that for?! I told them not to get me!_

"But don't worry, they're not dead," Thatch told him in a way Ace guessed was meant to be reassuring, "They're on this ship too."

Ace could not describe the relief that he felt when he heard that. His men were still alive! But of course, he couldn't let that guy know how much his words had affected him. He sure as hell wouldn't show weakness in front of his enemies.

"Don't you have to put me in cuffs or shackles?" he asked instead.

Thatch raised his brow in amusement. "Shackles? We don't need them!"

The way he said it made Ace grit his teeth in anger. What did that mean? That he was too weak to be of a threat to the Whitebeard Pirates? That they were too strong to be bothered by him? Either way, both answers made him pissed off.

While Thatch blabbed on obliviously about the rules of their ship, Ace stood up and felt his hand growing red hot in preparation for turning into fire. That guy named Thatch wanted to look down on him did he? Ace would give him something to look down on – his own humiliation from defeat. He would give that man a good whooping with his _Hiken_ and after that let the Whitebeard Pirates reconsider whether he needed shackles or not.

He raised his steadily flaming fist at the grinning guy, who was talking without a care in the world.

As he readied himself to attack, Ace felt a hand clamp down on his arm.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, yoi," he heard a lazy voice speak from beside him.

Ace growled in frustration and turned to give a death glare at the newcomer for ruining his plans. Because of that interruption, Thatch had noticed what he was trying to do and was now watching the two of them with amusement.

The newcomer merely raised his eyebrow at Ace's glare, unaffected in the least.

"Let go," Ace grit out, struggling against the hold on his arm. Fuck, but the man was strong.

"Not until you promise not to do that again, yoi," he replied softly.

"What am I? Twelve?" Ace retorted. "_Let go._"

The man refused to obey, staring at Ace calmly and waiting for him to speak. Oh, well, Ace had already told the man twice to let go. It would be entirely his own fault when he got burned. And so, without a word of warning Ace lit up his whole arm in flames.

He expected the man to let go immediately.

He had not expected, however, for blue flames to erupt on the man's own hand that intermingled with his own orange flames. Ace's eyes grew wide and he found himself coughing as he choked on his own saliva. "W-what?! How?"

How the hell could that man have fire? That couldn't have been another Mera Mera user!

"Curious?" the man asked with a self-satisfied smile.

Ace almost nodded dumbly in reply, but at the last moment he remembered himself and stopped. He was the famed Hiken no Ace, super rookie and captain of the Spade Pirates, not some idiot child who's curiosity got the better of his pride.

"As if!" he snapped angrily, jerking uselessly at his arm again.

This time, the blonde man let go with an amused laugh. He was joined by Thatch, who also seemed to find this situation funny. Ace felt his face heat up – no matter who it was, he always hated it when people laughed at him.

It was as if they were mocking him.

Ace didn't care if the Whitebeard Pirates killed him, he was going to make two of them pay for–

"Marco, Thatch. Stop messing with the new guy already."

Huh?

Ace blinked in surprise. The voice came from behind him. And it didn't sound like a man, it sounded like a woman. Ace turned around to see a woman walking towards him and his eyes grew wide in recognition.

She was dark haired and beautiful – frightfully so – and at least a head shorter than him.

She was wearing clothes that did nothing to hide her figure – a white buttoned up shirt with long sleeves and tightfitting brown pants with knee high boots. And embarrassingly, Ace could even make out the outlines of a black-coloured bra under that white shirt of hers, along with some indiscernible shape in red at her right hip. _A tattoo maybe? _There was a waterskin strapped to her belt on the right side, while a sword was strapped to her left. Although Ace was no swordsman he could tell it was of a fine craftsmanship.

But it wasn't all of that that made her recognizable to him.

No, it was her eyes.

Ace knew those eyes.

There was no way he could forget eyes the colour of the sea.

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello my lovelies. :)

The next part will be the **final** chapter of **Part One**. So after that, it might take me a few months or longer to update again because I need to finish plotting out **Part Two** before I even think of writing it. No worries though, like I said before, each Part can be taken as a story on its own. So hopefully there won't be _too _many unanswered questions...

~Jumpingbeans480


	12. Part One: Only The Beginning Of Troubles

**Behind Blue Eyes**

*Edited 7 May 2015

* * *

Chapter 11: Only The Beginning Of Trouble

.

**1st Year, 10 NOV**

.

The raven-haired woman came to a stop in front of Ace and smiled disarmingly. And while a normal testosterone filled guy might have swooned from a smile by a beauty such as her, Ace wasn't exactly a normal guy. He could tell that there was something _else_ to her smile.

Years of having to put on a fake smile himself in the presence of others had taught him how to tell the difference between a fake one and a real one.

And hers most certainly was a fake. Which led him to the question of _why_.

"It's good to see you finally awake Portgas," said the woman, still smiling that fake smile, "You've been out like a light for the past three days."

Ace's eyes grew wide in surprise – but not for the reason most people would think. He already knew that he had to have slept for some time in order for his injuries to completely heal, but he had expected for it to be a much longer time than that.

Not just a mere three days.

"Only three days?" he repeated out loud, "But what about my—" he stopped himself before he could say more. Even though he considered the option of asking someone for some answers earlier, Ace didn't want to now.

His pride simply wouldn't let him.

Now that he had more time to think, he could confidently say that there was no way in hell he could ask of anything from the Whitebeard Pirates. He would rather die.

"Your injuries?" the woman finished for him. "I healed the majority of them after you collapsed. But, because you fought for five days straight your body still needed the rest, which was why you've been sleeping so long."

Well, that explained his miraculous recovery. But _why_ did she heal him? More importantly, how?

The woman must have seen the unspoken question in his eyes because she answered him. "I'm the ship's doctor, or one of them at least, and I have a motto to treat the injured, regardless of who they are," she spoke with a smile – it was still _fake_, Ace noticed.

"So I'm also the one responsible for healing all of your men," she concluded.

"How are they?" Ace blurted before he could stop himself. Screw his pride for this moment, his men were more important.

"They're all fine. None of them sustained any life threatening injuries or lost any limbs, and they've all been discharged from the infirmary already. In fact, you're the last of your crew to regain consciousness," she paused thoughtfully and her gaze flickered to the blonde man in a silent communication.

"Each of your men have been assigned to a member of this crew to watch out for them, yoi," he intoned quietly, "So relax."

Ace seriously doubted that he could.

"And am _I_ assigned to someone?" he asked through gritted teeth, even though some part of him already knew the answer.

"Of course," the blonde said, an amused smile on his lips, "You've been assigned to yours truly. Name's Marco, and I'm the first mate and 1st division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Nice to meet you."

"Like hell it is!" Ace growled, starting to get angry again, "I don't need a damn babysitter."

"Jiji seems to think otherwise," the woman quipped good-naturedly, causing Ace to glare at her. She didn't seem affected by his glare and instead her smile widened – Ace noticed with slight surprise that it was still _fake_. Why was that?

"I don't think I've ever introduced myself properly," she began sheepishly, "I'm Kagome."

_What a strange name_, Ace thought. Kagome. Wasn't that the name of some children's game? He'd seen Makino teaching it to Luffy and the other kids in the village a few years back. How did it go again?

"The kid seems taken by your beauty Kagome," Thatch finally spoke up with a silly grin on his face. Since Kagome had arrived, he had observed quietly in the background how Ace kept on flicking his gaze to her face. And now, it was the perfect time to speak.

"It must be love at first sight!" he announced dramatically.

Ace felt a surge of warmth to his cheeks at the statement and he was sure that his face was as red as a beetroot. Before he could even open his mouth to deny that ridiculous declaration, he heard Marco speak up.

"Seems like it, yoi." There was no mistaking the amusement he heard in the man's tone. Evil pineapple-head.

"W-wrong! I-It's not like that!" he finally stuttered, completely embarrassed.

For a brief second, he risked a glance at Kagome and saw a slight flush of red on her cheeks. "Thatch! Don't talk nonsense! And you too Marco! Don't encourage him!" she cried out hotly. The phoenix smirked.

"Oh, then what is it?" Thatch asked Ace, still grinning unrepentantly.

"I…" Ace began, with his cheeks still flaming red.

How exactly was he supposed to phrase his answer without sounding like some sentimental idiot?

"Well Ace?" Thatch pressed him on mercilessly. He wouldn't be deterred.

Ace's eyes kept flickering between Kagome and Thatch as he tried to decide. His mind practically warring with itself before finally, it made a decision.

Oh, to hell with it.

"…I keep staring because I want to know why you keep on smiling that fake smile of yours," Ace replied, looking at her. He saw her eyes widen– she was probably surprised that he could see right through her – and bluntly continued on. "If you're not going to smile for real, then don't bother smiling at all."

There, he said it.

Now that if was all said and done, it was time for them to protest how wrong his statement was. Maybe they would even take insult to his statement and fight him. Then, he would kick their butts and finally get them to take him seriously.

Ace braced himself for it and observed their reactions because without a doubt, the mood had inexplicably changed.

Thatch's amused disposition had turned nervous and his gaze kept on flickering to the remaining three of the group, but it mostly lingered on Kagome, as if he didn't know what to make of this shift in mood.

Marco's lazy demeanour had seemed to vanish and if it were possible, he didn't have that sleepy look on his face anymore. Rather, his gaze now seemed feral, as if he were a cat who looked about a hair's breathe from violently ripping the fire user's throat out.

And as for the person whom Ace's blunt statement was about in the first place…

Well, she was now staring at the sea – still looking surprised, as well as pale. Ace vindictively wondered if she had gone into shock or something, and was just about to turn away when he stopped. He had seen something flash in her blue eyes. It was just there for a second, and if he had blinked, he would have missed it entirely. But he didn't blink, and so he managed to see it.

For just a brief moment, Ace saw a pair of eyes that seemed so world-weary, so tired of living, and so like his own.

Haunted eyes.

"You know Portgas," Kagome began lightly, snapping him out of his reverie, "You're the second person I've met who's said that to me."

Ace blinked. _Second_? Who was the first?

But before he could think any further, Kagome turned her eyes from the sea to look at him.

And Ace felt the air whoosh out of his lungs.

Kagome was smiling (and it wasn't that fake smile of hers again but a true, _real_ smile. Though, there was also a sadness to it. Why was that?) And boy oh boy, was it a sight to behold.

"So, how about it? Do you like me 'smiling for real', as you so eloquently put it?" she asked him softly.

Ace opened his mouth, fully prepared to tell her to shove it where the sun didn't shine, but found that his voice simply wouldn't come. It was as if it was lodged in the back of his throat or something, and no matter what he did, he wasn't capable of saying it. He only succeeded in making some unintelligible noise. "…"

Damn. It. All. To. Hell.

"Well now, Kagome. I think you broke him, yoi," Marco stated with a smirk.

"Here, here. I think so too," Thatch chimed in jovially.

Kagome merely let out another small laugh, and Ace growled lowly in irritation.

"Fuck you all!" he snapped angrily, before turning away and running off. He had had enough of this shit and he was _outta_ here.

* * *

"Ah!" Thatch cried out at his retreating form, "Aw come on Ace! Don't be like that! It was just a joke! Right guys? Nah, come on Ace!" The man in question didn't reply and continued running. Soon he turned a corner and disappeared from their view.

"Che," Thatch huffed, slightly offended, "Quite the mouthy little diva, isn't he?"

"Well, it was _your _fault for teasing him in the first place Thatch," Kagome replied with a roll of her eyes.

"What? It's not my fault the kid can't take a joke_,_" he stated with a careless shrug. "And besides, you guys teased him too!"

"But you were the one that started it," Kagome retorted.

Thatch childishly stuck his tongue out at her. "Thought you were supposed to be on my side."

"Not when your side always involves trying to embarrass me."

"What? Kagome-chan I'm shocked, _shocked,_ that you think so. In fact I—"

"_Children_. That's enough, yoi," Marco interrupted, finally putting an end to their bantering. If he didn't step in now and nip it in the roots, Thatch and Kagome would have continued arguing for a long time.

"Right then," Thatch cleared his throat, "I'd better get going. Gotta see Oyaji and let him know that our newest member is up and running."

"See you at lunch then?"

"Yup. Save me a seat!" He gave them a little wink and a wave, before walking off.

Kagome turned to Marco, and the phoenix was glad to see the mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "You know, for a nanny you're not a very good one. Aren't you supposed to look after our new roommate and make sure he doesn't get into trouble?"

"Your point, yoi?"

She smiled. "Well, he's not here anymore. So what are you still standing around for?"

"I'm sure he can handle being by himself for a few minutes, yoi. He's a big boy," Marco said, before pausing. "But more importantly, are _you_ all right?"

The phoenix had seen Kagome's expression when Portgas said those words to her. (And oh how much he'd wanted to give the boy a good kick in the head for his insensitivity then…) The woman had been reminded of her past again, though Marco didn't know why. She had recovered quickly from it enough to let out a _real _smile, but damn it Marco was still worried.

"Mm. I'm… all right," Kagome said slowly. "Portgas just reminded me of something I'd forgotten."

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "_Honestly, Kagome. If you are not going to smile for real, then do not bother smiling at all,_" she quoted, her expression full of wistfulness. "That was what _he _said to me once a long time ago."

_Ah. _Marco placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Wise words. But then again, he was always a wise man, yoi."

Kagome turned to face him. "Yeah… That's why I'm going to try and live up to them," she replied, a sad smile on her lips. "It's the least I can do, after everything."

"Sometimes, it's the little things we do that count, yoi." His voice was quiet. Sincere.

_Not always, _Kagome thought, but what she said was, "Yes. It is." She turned away from him and made her way to the railing. She rested her elbows on them and looked out at the endless stretch of blue. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the gentle sensation of the wind blowing against her face. The waves crashed softly against the Moby Dick, rocking it in a soothing rhythm. High above, the faint cry of seagulls could be heard.

Footsteps echoed against the floorboards as Marco came to stand beside her.

"It was scary," Kagome finally admitted. "I never expected Portgas to see through me like that. And so quickly too."

"Maybe there's more to him than meets the eye," the phoenix commented, watching her profile.

She hummed in agreement. "Maybe."

A few moments of comfortable silence passed between them. "Well then, shall we get going?" Marco asked. "You have a whole line of injured men to tend to, while I have a wayward brat to find, yoi."

"I still don't think you should have let Portgas run off by himself," Kagome said, "He _was _kind of angry when he left."

"Eh," Marco shrugged lazily. "I'm sure he'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen, yoi?"

Of course, it was at that moment the ship was rocked by an explosion.

Kagome broke out into a wry smile. "You were saying…?"

Marco closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Don't gloat. Just go, yoi."

"Aye, aye, captain." With that said, the two of them took off in the direction of the blast. As they ran side by side down the corridor, Kagome looked over at Marco and caught his eye. She raised her brows at him in silent communication, and Marco's lips slowly twitched into a reluctant smile. He nodded.

It was agreed. Life as they knew it, would never be the same again.

.

End Chapter

.

**END PART ONE**

* * *

Hello dearies. :)

You've reached the FINAL chapter of PART ONE**. ***throws confetti*

Thank you to everyone who's followed, favourited and reviewed!

I hope I didn't leave anyone with _too _many unanswered questions. But I guess the main question would be 'Who is this _him_ that Kagome keeps talking about?' Well, I'm not going to just reveal his name like that. No, that would be too easy. But I will tell you this.

Me, being the sneaky author that I am, have actually hidden a sort of Easter Egg in this story. If you can find it, you'll discover the identity of Kagome's _him_! Now, I'm not that cruel to make you look through the whole story, so I'll give you a little clue. Try looking through the chapter titles of the story. There's a puzzle to be solved there... :)

Last thing to note. I don't know when PART TWO is going to come out, because I'm still plotting everything. It could take a few months or maybe even a year before I update again. I don't know. It all depends on the muse.

So that's it! Please drop me a review if you've enjoyed reading it!

~Jumpingbeans480


	13. Part Two: Start Of Something New

**Behind Blue Eyes**

* * *

**PART TWO**

.

Chapter 1: Start Of Something New

.

**1st Year, 10 NOV**

.

Portgas D. Ace didn't know where he was running off to. The ship was _huge_, so much that it was easy for him to get lost even if he was above deck, but he didn't care. He just knew that he needed to get the _hell_ away from those three pirates before he was tempted to murder them all. If he could, he would do it slowly, painfully and he would start with the idiot called Thatch first.

But no, Ace couldn't. He _wouldn't_ harm a single member of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Not while his men were still aboard. Now, Ace didn't really give a shit about whether or not he lived or died, but he wouldn't risk even the slightest chance of putting his men in danger just because he couldn't control his own damn temper.

Ace cared a lot more about others more than he did himself. It was sad, but he couldn't help it. Not after living the life he'd had.

As he continued running, Ace could hear one of them (probably Thatch judging by how grating the voice sounded to his ears) calling out after him, telling him it was just a joke and trying to convince him to come back. The fire user grit his teeth in anger.

It was a joke? Well, was he laughing?

Fuck them. Seriously. Fuck them all. Fuck them for basically kidnapping him and his whole crew out to the middle of fucking nowhere on the damn ocean. Fuck them for assigning him a fucking babysitter. Fuck them for thinking that he was weak enough to not require any fucking Kairoseki cuffs. Fuck them for laughing at him and teasing him and fuck them for being so damn nice and welcoming to him, like he was already part of their fucking family.

Ace could still remember the image of Whitebeard kneeling in front of him, his hand extended and a shit-eating grin on his face.

"_Become my son!" _he had said.

The fire user let out a soft growl. He would _never _become that man's son. Ever. Ace didn't want a father. He didn't _need_ a father. He'd lived his entire life without one and would continue doing so until the day he died, whenever that might be.

Ace stopped abruptly in his tracks as he suddenly found himself on the main deck.

There were dozens of pirates out there, some busy with their duties while others were relaxing and having a grand old time. There were a few men that noticed his impromptu arrival and even waved cheerfully at him, but the rookie didn't notice. He was too busy staring at the giant throne situated in a sunken circular area right in front of one of the ships main masts. Or more specifically, staring at the man sitting _in _it.

Whitebeard turned his head slightly and looked at him with a grin. "Finally woke up son?"

Ace's vision dissolved into red.

* * *

When Marco and Kagome finally arrived at the source of the explosion, it was just in time to see Whitebeard backhand Portgas into a part of the round staircase where they usually held their parties. The wood collapsed around and under the rookie from the sheer force of the blow, but a moment later he was up and kicking again. His eyes burned with an uncontrolled rage and his whole body became encased in fire. He let out an inhuman roar and propelled himself at Whitebeard once more.

At his departure, several of the crewmembers ran over and hastily began putting out the bits of wood that had caught on fire.

Marco pressed his lips into a thin line as he glanced around the area. Broken railings, destroyed doors, plenty of holes in the walls and on the floor, a dented mast, torn sails and piles and piles of debris everywhere… It didn't look like anything had made it out unscathed from the fight. Even the things that weren't on fire had still been charred by it.

"Wow. Jozu, Blenheim and Fossa are going to have a conniption," Kagome spoke up from beside him. She winced in sympathy as she watched Whitebeard grab Portgas by the leg and smash him against the ground repeatedly like a ragdoll.

"Oh yeah," Marco agreed with a quiet hum. If this was the kind of damage Portgas would cause every time he fought their father… Well, the phoenix kind of pitied his fellow commanders right now. (It was the Third, Ninth and Fifteenth Divisions that were in charge of all the repair work on the Moby Dick, after all.) Because from the looks of things, it seemed like Portgas' attempt on their father's life was going to become a common occurrence in the future.

The two watched the battle (if it could even be called that because of how _one-sided_ it was. Portgas was clearly outmatched here) in a companionable silence. They, and the rest of the crew, knew better than to interfere.

"Guarararara… Is that all you've got, son?" Whitebeard called out, his tone amused.

"_Stop calling me that!_" Portgas snarled. His face was twisted with hatred. "_I am not your fucking son_. _I am no man's son!_" he declared proudly, before launching himself at Whitebeard once again, his hand formed in a flaming fist.

The world's strongest man didn't even bother to dodge the attack. He simply struck before he had the chance to be struck.

Everyone watched, some in amusement and some in sympathy, as Portgas flew across the main deck and smashed into the mast nearest to the whale head. The force of his impact was hard enough to leave quite the sizeable dent in the sturdy wood.

The fight was over. It was obvious the rookie wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Not after a hit like that.

"All right men. Let's get to work, yoi," Marco called out in an authoritative voice. "Third, Ninth and Fifteenth Divisions, you know what to do. Everyone else, focus on putting out the fires and gathering the wreckage into a pile. Let's see what we can salvage from this."

The crewmembers on the main deck gave a yell of acknowledgment and began the cleanup it earnest.

With that out of the way, the phoenix turned to Kagome. The woman felt the weight of his gaze on her, and looked back at him. Their eyes met in a silent communication for a few moments before she finally nodded and left, heading in the direction where Portgas had landed.

* * *

The rookie was sprawled out at the bottom of the mast he had collided with.

There was an unfocused look to his eyes, and he seemed detached from everything that was happening around him. Even without examining him properly, Kagome could already tell that he'd suffered a concussion. She crouched down beside him and began checking him for injuries.

"W-What are you doing?" Portgas slurred, feebly attempting to bat her hands away.

"I'm a doctor and you're hurt," she said simply, not pausing in her task. "Now hold still. I need to see how bad the damage is."

"But I'm not hurt," Portgas insisted, still trying to push her away. Stubborn till the very end.

Kagome sighed softly and looked him right in the eye. Blues met greys. "You've got a concussion, a bad one from the looks of it, and based on the bruises forming on your torso you've probably broken your ribs again. With how hard Jiji's hit you, you might even have internal injuries. So now, are you going to stop fighting and let me examine you, or are you going to wait until you're in a coma, unable to breathe properly because you're too busy choking on your own blood?"

Portgas was glaring at her like he wanted to kill her, but he stopped resisting.

"Thank you."

Without his attempts to fight her anymore, Kagome was able to check him over properly. Portgas flinched every time she applied even the gentlest of pressures on his torso, but he never moved, struggled or said a word. Instead, he gazed out over to the men running around the deck, busy repairing the substantial damage he had wrought in his battle.

A few minutes later, Kagome drew back.

"I'm done," she said, and held up her hands to count off his list of injuries. "So in summary, you've got a concussion, a cut on your forehead, a black eye, bruising on your left cheek, 6 broken ribs, 8 cracked ribs, heavy bruising on your entire back, a broken arm, a sprained wrist, a cracked pelvic bone and a sprained kneecap. But fortunately, it looks like you've escaped the internal injuries this time around."

"So now what?" Portgas asked sharply. "You bandage me up?"

"Now, I heal you…" Kagome replied as she moved to uncork her waterskin. But her hand stopped midway when she took in the agitated state of her patient. Portgas' fists were clenching and unclenching, and he glared and growled at any man that dared to look his way. Kagome guessed that it must have stung his pride something fierce for him to not only be defeated by Whitebeard in such a fashion, but to be helped by her in such a public place.

"…In the infirmary," she finished, and watched as he turned to her in surprise. "Can you walk?"

A moment of silence passed before he finally nodded. "Yeah, I can walk."

Kagome guessed that even if he had two broken legs, he would have said the same thing.

She stood up and kept her hands firmly by her side. She knew that if she offered to help him up, he would rebuff her. Kagome silently watched as Portgas sucked in a deep breath and steeled his expression before gingerly standing up. Flashes of pain still broke through his poker face and when he was finally up, he was swearing up a storm.

Wow. He had _quite_ the potty mouth.

"Come on. The infirmary's this way," she told him, and gestured for him to follow her. She didn't attempt to touch him, go near him or to offer him her shoulder to lean on. She simply turned and walked.

She hid a smile when she sensed that Portgas started to follow behind.

* * *

Kagome had to admire Portgas' obstinacy.

With a sprained kneecap, a broken arm, a cracked pelvic bone and that many damaged ribs, he had to be in _incredible_ pain. Never mind walking, going down the stairs or standing up, even _staying conscious_ should have been impossible for him.

But not only did Portgas manage all that, he didn't even ask for help.

He just grit his teeth, tolerated the pain, and kept moving forward. Now, he may have stumbled once or twice on his journey, but he never collapsed and Kagome never had to help him. The most she had to do was wait a few moments for him to catch up with her.

"Make yourself comfortable," Kagome said once Portgas crossed the doorway of the infirmary, before going to get her supplies.

By the time she returned, the rookie was seated on one of the beds, holding his unbroken hand delicately to his ribs and occasionally grimacing from the pain. He was looking around the empty infirmary. Based on the curiosity she both sensed and saw in his eyes, Kagome guessed that he was probably wondering how a crew as infamous and as big as theirs was could have no one lying injured here, or why she seemed to be the only doctor aboard.

"I heal the injured as soon as I can," she spoke up quietly.

Portgas' eyes snapped to her. Kagome watched as a mild flush came over his freckled cheeks, confirming that she'd correctly deduced his thoughts.

She continued on, "Afterwards, they don't need to stay. We have nurses too, but they're always with Jiji." Kagome walked over and placed her supplies on the bedside table. Then she pulled up a chair and sat in front of him. "Give me your hand. The unbroken one."

Portgas shot her a wary look.

Kagome resisted the urge to roll her eyes. What? Did he think she was going to break his other arm? She held up a nondescript bottle and a needle. "Painkillers. Binding your ribs is going to hurt. A lot. This is the non-sleeping kind, but it'll still take some of the edge off."

Portgas looked like he wanted to decline them out of sheer pride and stubbornness, but thankfully good sense won over. He held out his hand.

Kagome took it, located his vein and injected him with the painkillers. The whole process only took under half a minute. It was obvious from her speed and efficiency that she'd done this many times before in the past. As they waited for the meds to take effect, Kagome started disinfecting the injury on his forehead. It was a nasty cut, and while head wounds generally bled quite a lot, fortunately this one had already stopped.

Portgas was looking somewhere to the side. He bit his lip as she dabbed an alcohol swab over the laceration, but he never spoke.

Kagome was no stranger to silences. She and Marco had shared many over the years since she'd come to the Moby Dick. But theirs was a companionable silence. This was different. Not uncomfortable, not disconcerting or anything like that. Just different. She didn't know what to feel about that.

"Listen," she ended up saying. Portgas swivelled his eyes to her. "I apologise for Thatch. I know he can be a bit much sometimes, but he'll grow on you."

"Yeah. Like genital herpes," Portgas blurted out, before his mouth twisted into a scowl. Kagome guessed that it was probably because he had resolved not to talk to her anymore but still ended up doing.

"Well, I've never heard it described like that before," the woman said with an amused smile. "Are the painkillers kicking in yet?"

Portgas nodded, still scowling.

"Good."

With that, she pulled away and reached for her supplies from the bedside table. She took the splint and a roll of bandages. Portgas held out his broken arm obligingly and remained still as she gently wrapped it.

Once she was finished, she reached for another roll of bandages.

"Lift up your arms. Carefully," she instructed. Portgas did as he was told, and Kagome started unravelling the bandages around his torso. Binding a person's ribs was always an intimate process. Kagome had to get up close and personal in order to roll the bandages across Portgas' back. Her face was literally inches away from pressing against his skin. Being a doctor, she didn't mind. But Portgas clearly did, as there was a mild blush on his cheeks.

"Let me know if it's too tight or you have trouble breathing," she said, and watched him freeze up as her warm breath came into contact with his skin. Oops.

Portgas behaved like _quite_ the innocent virgin, didn't he? Kagome knew he wasn't one (he was a 17-year-old teenage pirate, of course he wasn't a virgin) so it was rather amusing to still see him act all awkward around her. Other women might have teased him for this… but Kagome wasn't like the other women.

"There. All done," she announced a few minutes later. She gave one last tug at the bindings to make sure they were secure before finally drawing back. She heard Portgas let out a soft sigh of relief and felt amusement blossom within her. But she didn't let it show outwardly. Oh no. Portgas would probably take offense to that and either fight her or storm off before she could finish healing him properly.

Kagome placed her hand in a basin of water that was on the bedside table.

"Try not to move for this next part," she told him. "It'll be easier for me to heal."

She could sense Portgas' confusion at her words, but she paid him no mind. He would see, soon enough. Kagome lifted her water-covered hand out of the basin and placed it over his chest. She took a moment to focus, and the water started glowing with her energy.

As Portgas' ribs started to heal, Kagome snuck a glance at the rookie. He was staring at her with his eyes comically wide in shock.

Kagome cracked a small grin. "I think you'll find that I'm a woman of many skills, Portgas D. Ace."

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello dearies!

I originally wasn't going to post this chapter until I finished writing the whole of _Part II_, but then I saw the date and I just couldn't resist. *grins*

If you've noticed, there's an inclusion of the year and date in each chapter, even those in _Part I_. The 1st Year thing signifies the year that Ace turned 17 and set sail. So Ace only encounters the Whitebeard Pirates on **1st Year, 7 ****NOV** and by the time things culimate in Marineford, it'll be somewhere in **5th Year, 23 APR**, according to my timeline.

**Also please note.**

When I was writing out _Part I_, I was being very half-assed and making up a lot of things as I went along. Because keep in mind, this monster fic all started from a _1.5K word_ oneshot. I hadn't thought of a lot of things, but now that I've actually formed a detailed backstory and things like that, I went back to the story and changed some stuff, deleted some stuff and added some stuff.

There aren't a lot of changes, mind. But still, changes.

I've also edited the info for Behind Blue Eyes. There are 12 Parts now instead of 10. Why? Because _Part IV_ was so ridiculously long, I had to split it into 3 parts. If you want to find out more about them, just to my profile. And if you wanna give the story a reread to refresh your memory, go ahead!

When is the next chapter going to be out? Ask the muse.

~Jumpingbeans480


	14. Part Two: Sixth Time's The Charm

**Behind Blue Eyes**

* * *

Chapter 2: Sixth Time's The Charm

.

**1st Year, 10 NOV**

.

Halfway through the healing of his sprained knee, Portgas collapsed.

He'd been silent and sulking one moment, then unconscious and limp the next. Kagome's reflexes had immediately reacted to save him from an unfortunate meeting with the ground, but it came at the expense of her concentration.

Cradling Portgas' lifeless body against her chest, the woman sighed as the water coating her hand released, wetting their laps, the bed and the floor.

_Perfect._

Kagome gently lowered Portgas back onto the bed and did a quick once-over. Her mind was in a whir. She couldn't think of any medical complication that would cause him to pass out so suddenly. His body signs had been fine. No internal injuries, no more broken bones or concussion. Nothing. Even the painkillers she'd given him were of the non-sleeping variety. Exhaustion maybe? But again, his body signs had been fine.

He hadn't been overtired, not from what she could sense. And her senses were probably _the _best on the ship. So what…?

_Ah_… She pulled back from her inspection. Portgas hadn't fainted. He was fast asleep. _So, he has narcolepsy, huh?_

"Well, you're just full of surprises, aren't you?" she said to his sleeping form, an amused smile on her lips. Obviously, there was no reply. But now that she knew there wasn't anything life-threatening happening with Portgas, it was time for her to clean up the spill.

It took a few seconds and a single hand motion for Kagome to gather the spilt water into a ball above her palm. It took another few seconds and another hand motion for her to filter out all the dirt and filth into a smaller separate ball of water that was put into a bowl she had taken from the cabinet.

There. Water, cleaned. Clothes, bed and floor, dry again. It even looked like there hadn't been a spill at all.

Kagome then went back to her healing. She still had a while more to go.

* * *

Nearly half an hour later, Kagome drew back from Portgas' bedside and deposited the water into the tub with an idle wave of her hand. She then held her arms over her head, stretching until she felt the bones in her back pop.

_Oh, that felt really good_, she thought with a satisfied sigh. _But I'm not quite finished yet._

The woman stood up and spent the next ten minutes putting everything away and tidying up. Their infirmary always had to be neat, clean and organised. Those were the rules, and everyone who worked there followed it unquestionably.

When she was finally, _finally, _done, Kagome checked on her patient again. Portgas was still conked out (and from what she sensed, he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon) so she headed down to the mess hall for a quick bite. She'd long since missed the lunch hour, but fortunately the cooks down in the kitchens were always happy to serve anyone who was hungry.

Kagome left the mess hall after her meal, but not before deciding to take back some food for Portgas too. Because if her calculations were correct he hadn't eaten since his fight with Jinbe, and that had been almost nine days ago.

Coupled with the amount of healing she'd done on him… Well, when he woke up again he would most definitely be starving.

She placed the food down on his bedside table before leaving the infirmary again. There was nothing more she could do for him, so there was no point in staying. All it would accomplish was wasting her time. Kagome wasn't too worried about not being in the infirmary in case someone injured came looking for her. Everyone aboard knew that if they ever got hurt, Kagome would be the one to go to them. That was the way things were on the Moby.

And besides, Kagome also needed to talk with Whitebeard's head nurse about his health. She had read about this new type of drug in a medical article and was thinking it might be better to switch out his current one for that. She wanted to get the woman's opinion on it.

"Ayumi, do you have a minute?" Kagome asked softly.

The woman in question broke away from the other nurses and approached her with a warm smile on her face. "Of course, Kagome-chan. Now what can I do for you?"

Kagome smiled back. "Well, there was this new heart medication…"

* * *

Their conversation lasted for quite some time. Anything that concerned Whitebeard's health was a serious matter, after all. They had to be extremely thorough about every detail discussed. Because with the way his health seemed lately, any oversight on their part could lead to very serious problems. The worst of it being death.

The two continued their talk as they headed back into the infirmary. Ayumi wanted to see the medical article that Kagome had read about, as she was still undecided on the matter.

"I'm still not too sure if we should change Oyaji's medication to this new drug…"

"I know the lisinopril is working fine. But don't you see Ayumi? There's always a chance that it might cause Jiji's kidneys to fail one day. But this new drug… it doesn't have that potential side effect."

"There's always a chance it might not, Kagome-chan."

"Are you willing to bet that on Jiji's life?"

"…"

"I'm sorry Ayumi. That was a horrible thing for me to say."

"It's fine Kagome-chan. I know you care about Oyaji as much as anyone on this ship and you're trying to watch out for him. I can't be angry with that. Now, where's this article you read about?"

"…"

"Kagome-chan?"

They had reached the infirmary by now and Kagome was staring at Portgas' bed. Or more specifically, at Portgas'_ empty_ bed. The rookie wasn't there. The woman let out a soft sigh when she noticed the plate of untouched sandwiches on the bedside table.

Damn it.

Kagome had been too focused on her conversation with Ayumi to notice when he'd woken up and left. From what she sensed now, he was currently on the other side of the ship, heading towards where Whitebeard was. _Stubborn till the very end, eh._

"Kagome-chan? What's wrong?"

"Oh it's nothing Ayumi," Kagome said with a shake of her head. "I'll go and get the article for you, but we're going to have to cut our conversation short. And you can help yourself to those sandwiches over there if you're hungry. You know how it's not good to waste food on a ship."

"Let me guess, the patient's run away to try and kill Oyaji again?" Ayumi asked drolly.

Kagome sighed again. "Oh yeah."

* * *

Ace made several more attempts on Whitebeard's life that day.

The fights never lasted very long, but he still got the shit beaten out of him by the old man for every single one.

To make matters worse, _that woman_ would appear out of freaking nowhere to drag him away and heal his wounds. It didn't matter where he ran to afterwards. She would always find him, and she would always heal him. Every single damn time. Even though Ace made sure to escape from her as soon as she was done, it was still grating on his patience to be helped like that.

After the sixth failed attempt, Ace finally lost his temper.

"Get away from me!" he snarled when she appeared, tensing like a cat about to attack, "I don't need your fucking help so you can just fuck off!"

The fire user was slumped against the railings that were situated above deck. He'd been thrown against it by Whitebeard from his latest assassination attempt, and currently didn't have the energy to get up.

"Oi! Don't you go talking to Kagome like that!" a passing crewmember said, outraged. He had been walking by carrying the broken pieces of wood from Ace's latest fight. "She's being a saint by helping you every time you get hurt, though I don't know why she even bothers since you keep on going back to Oyaji to get your ass kicked. So the least you could do is be grateful and polite to her."

Ace's face flushed red with anger. "Yeah well, fuck you! I never fucking asked her to help me, you shitty old geezer!"

"What did you say to me you damn brat?!"

"You heard me!"

"Get up and face me like a man you little shit!"

"I don't need to get up to be able to kick your ass you fucker!"

"Why I oughta—?!"

"_Enough._" The woman (_Kagome, _his mind supplied traitorously) placed a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder. "It's all right Joshua. Thank you for the kind defence, but I can handle this."

The man blinked. "Eh? Are you sure Kagome?"

"I'm sure. Portgas isn't the most difficult patient I've had on this crew," she told him, and they shared a conspiratory smile. "And besides, I think I see Jozu over there giving you the stink-eye."

"Eh?!"

The man wheeled around, and sure enough, Ace could see a bear of a man (Jozu no doubt) standing not too far away, watching them with a stern expression on his face.

"Shit! I mean, sorry Jozu-taichou!" the man babbled and quickly went back to work.

Ace watched as Jozu gave them, or more specifically Kagome, a respectful nod. The woman smiled back at him in thanks and he turned back to his men. She then focused her attention back on Ace. She approached him again, this time with her hands help up in a placating manner. He would have run, except he still didn't have the strength to get up. Damn it all to hell. He settled for watching her warily.

"So are you going to let me heal you now or are you going to continue sulking?"

"I am _not_ sulking!" Ace snapped, before wincing and placing a hand to his ribs. It felt like Whitebeard's punch had broken them again. Great. Kagome noticed his action, and looked at him with pursed lips.

"So will you let me heal you?"

"I don't need your help!"

"Well, you may not need it, but you're going to get it anyway," she told him simply.

"I don't want your pity!"

"It's not pity if I have to ask for your permission. So can I please heal you now?"

"_Why?!_"

Ace couldn't understand it. He just couldn't. It was just like that crewmember had said. He couldn't understand why this woman kept on healing him like this, even though he always immediately went back out there and got injured trying to take Whitebeard's head. She was wasting her time and her energy with him, yet she kept on doing it.

For a stranger. An enemy.

Ace didn't understand it. Life had thrown too much shit at him for too long for him to ever believe that someone could be this nice. To him of all people. A demon's child.

Ace had seen the worst of humanity. He was jaded. He was cynical. So he couldn't understand why she kept on helping him like this.

"I've told you this before. I'm a doctor, and I have a motto to treat the injured, regardless of who they are," Kagome explained calmly.

"Even if they're your enemy?" he retorted.

She shook her head. "You're not my enemy Portgas. And Jiji doesn't consider you his either. No one on this ship does."

"Well I am!" he insisted vehemently, "I _am_ your enemy, and I'll kill that old bastard, just you wait and see!"

"That's between you and Jiji, not me," she replied, kneeling down in front of him now. "…So can I take a look at your ribs now? I don't want you to end up puncturing a lung."

Ace bristled. "Don't touch me!"

Kagome pulled back. "I wasn't going to. Not until you let me."

Ace glared balefully at her in silence. She didn't flinch from the force of his stare, nor did she turn away. Finally, after a few more moments of silence, she looked away with a soft sigh.

"Even if you were my enemy Portgas," she spoke softly, "You're still a good man. Anyone can see that."

"What does it matter if I'm a good man or not?"

Kagome's expression turned regretful and she closed her eyes, almost in remembrance. "In my life, I've had to watch one good man die from his wounds because I wasn't, no, _I didn't _know how to heal him at the time. _Never again._"

Ace stared at her, watching her pale throat bob as she swallowed. The woman looked like she was trying not to cry.

The man that she wasn't able to save, his death really affected her that much? Ace had a brief moment to wonder who that man was, and what kind of relationship Kagome shared with him. A lover, perhaps?

"… All right," he finally said, and she opened her eyes to look at him. Their eyes met. "You can heal me."

His heart gave a weird tug as Kagome flashed him a small, but real, smile.

"Thank you."

* * *

Just because Ace was willing to let Kagome heal him, it didn't mean that when nightfall came he would be willing to sleep in the same room as her and that pineapple-haired guy. What was his name? Marcus? Marcel? Oh, yeah, _Marco._

He scoffed. Ace would rather start calling Whitebeard _Oyaji_ than share a room with Kagome and Marco, his _babysitters._

He didn't need a room. Any dark corner would do. Ace had spent a whole lot of his youth in the jungle and away from Dadan. He'd lived in a tree house for fuck's sake. He was used to roughing it out.

Ace scowled as his stomach started growling, letting its hunger be known to the world.

Another thing. He may be starving but he sure as fuck wasn't going to _ask _for food. Nor was he going to the mess hall, wherever that might be, to take the food there. No. Ace would wait until there weren't many people around, before heading for the kitchens to steal something. He currently didn't know where the kitchens were, but he could always follow his nose.

Ace was a survivor. He would live through this, without asking anybody for anything.

And he would take Whitebeard's head. Even if it was the last thing he did.

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello my lovelies!

I never expected to finish this chapter so soon, but wow, I was hit with a serious bout of inspiration lately. I even wrote out the death scene of _he-who-must-not-be-named. _But that won't be posted till part V.

As usual, potty-mouthed Ace is super fun to write.

Sorry if the chapter seems choppy. This and the next one are going to be written excerpts style... because well, the timespan for Chapter 3 is going to be a week.

When's it coming out? Eh, it's a work in progress.

Please remember to review! I love hearing from you guys! Also, if you have any questions, ask, and I'll see if I can answer.

~Jumpingbeans480


	15. Part Two: The Week Of Hell

**Behind Blue Eyes**

* * *

Chapter 3: The Week Of Hell

.

**1st Year, 10 NOV**

.

"You know that he's not going to show up, yoi," Marco spoke up calmly from his bed. He was reclined against the headboard, watching Kagome as she paced from one end of the room to the other in her nightwear.

It was nearing midnight, and Ace still hadn't turned up for bed. Granted, Marco didn't think the rookie would even come back in the first place, because it was terribly obvious that he hated them all with the burning passion of a thousand suns. But Kagome, ever the optimist, still insisted on waiting for him.

"Maybe he got lost?" she threw out hopefully.

Marco raised his brow.

She met his eyes, and then let out a sigh. "Okay, you're right. He's not. Stubborn kid…" she mumbled to herself.

"Where is he anyway?" the phoenix asked curiously.

"Now? Breaking into the kitchens," she replied with a shrug.

Marco's lips twitched. "Thatch won't be pleased, yoi."

"No, he won't."

They both shared a grin, knowing that Thatch would be more than just unpleased. He would probably be throwing a hissy fit, or a whine fest of epic proportions, when he eventually found out that someone stole from the kitchen stores.

While normally Marco would have gone to his brother and fellow commander immediately about the theft, the phoenix was still a little upset with the man for teasing Portgas this morning. He still remembered how Thatch had said something stupid that caused the rookie to upset Kagome and remind her of the past again.

So Marco had somewhat of a petty streak. Sue him.

"Are you planning on telling him?"

"What is Thatch doing?" he asked.

"Sleeping."

Marco snorted. "Well, if his stores get raided and he's sleeping, it's his own damn fault for not practising constant vigilance, yoi. So no, I'm not going to tell him."

Kagome bit her lip, trying not to laugh. "Okay, if you say so. But you do know that Thatch is probably going to whine to _you _about it."

"If he does, I could always kick him into the sea, yoi."

This time Kagome did laugh. Marco smiled and felt his insides grow warm. He loved hearing her laughter, because it was such a rare thing from her. Just like her smiles.

"… Do you think we should go get Portgas and bring him back?" Kagome spoke up softly, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Marco shook his head. "Best to leave him be, yoi. You know that if we start interfering with him now, he'll hate us more even more than he already does," he explained.

Kagome let out a sigh. Marco knew it meant she was agreeing with him.

"Ace is a stubborn kid, that's true. But he'll come round eventually, yoi. No one can resist Oyaji for long," Marco declared confidently with a smile, and held out a hand to her. "So just come to bed now. You've done a lot of healing today, yoi."

Kagome looked at his hand for a moment, then walked over and took it.

Marco carefully helped her into bed, and they adjusted their positions until Kagome was the little spoon while Marco was the big. His chin rested directly above the top of her head, while his arm was thrown over her waist. Their knees were tangled together. They took comfort in the warmth of the other's body and closed their eyes.

Soon, they were fast asleep.

* * *

.

**1st Year, 11 NOV**

.

Ace never did return to their room.

He was also never seen during their meals either. The only indication Marco had that the kid was eating were the times where Kagome told him he was breaking into the kitchens. Thatch complained quite a lot about the missing food, but decided to let it be, because how else were they going to get the stubborn idiot to eat?

It didn't mean that he stopped whining to Marco about it though.

No, he whined quite a lot. It was only when Marco threatened to kick him into the sea, painfully, that Thatch finally stopped. He picked Izou as his new listening ear instead.

Marco snorted. Everyone on the ship knew that it was Izou you never wanted to piss off, not Marco. Everyone but Thatch apparently.

* * *

.

**1st Year, 13 NOV**

.

Marco sighed tiredly. He was getting too damn old for this.

Ace never stopped trying to kill Whitebeard. He would make many, _many_ attempts on the man's life during the day and even during the night. No time was sacred, and the crew were starting to get irritated about their interrupted sleep.

If Marco didn't start interfering in this soon, he'd have a murder, or at least a riot, on his hands.

The phoenix was currently on the prowl for the wayward rookie. He didn't have the time during daylight hours to talk with Portgas (that was the downside of running both the 1st and 2nd Divisions, Marco was always too busy to have any down time) but at night, he was free…ish.

He couldn't ask Kagome where Ace was because she was already asleep and he didn't want to wake her up. Marco knew that she was wearing herself out from healing Ace so many times each day. He never asked her to stop, because he understood her reasons for healing anyone injured, but he could let her rest whenever possible.

Based on what his own Haki was telling him, Ace should be somewhere around… here. Ah.

Marco spied him curled up in a dark corner looking like a veritable ghost, as only the whites of his eyes were visible from the shadows. It painted a somewhat frightening picture. But Marco was never one to be scared of the dark.

The man approached him slowly, and watched as Ace's eyes warily tracked his movement.

"It's not wise to attack Oyaji at night, yoi. He doesn't hold back," Marco told him simply.

Ace scowled. "Who the hell wants that shitty old geezer to hold back?!"

The phoenix sighed. "It's for your own good, yoi. If you're knocked overboard at night, it'll be a while before someone can save you. We don't want you to die, yoi."

"Why? Because you'll lose your favourite entertainment?" His tone was mocking.

"No, because you're our brother, yoi."

"I am _not _your brother!" he snarled, before getting up and running past the other man in a huff.

Marco let out another sigh at his retreating form. "Brat."

* * *

.

**1st Year, 15 NOV**

.

Marco rounded the corridor just in time to see Ace get thrown through the wall of Whitebeard's room, slamming painfully against the rail. His sudden appearance startled two of the men who had been drinking right outside.

"Oi, oi! What d'ya think you're doing?" one reprimanded.

"You should be more considerate at this time of night!" the other said.

Ace didn't reply with his usual scathing comment. He was too busy pressing a hand to his nose, trying to stem the flow of blood. Marco wouldn't be surprised if his father had broken it, not after a blow like that.

"Yeah, a lot of us are trying to sleep here!"

"Now we're going to have to clean up after you, so the least you can do is apologise—" The man stopped in his tirade, finally noticing Marco's presence at the other end.

A look from the phoenix sent them both scattering.

Marco slowly walked up to Ace. His footsteps echoed loudly on the floorboards, but he could still hear the rookie muttering all sorts of curses under his breath. He had quite the mouth on him.

The man stopped in front of the youth and eyed him calmly, taking in his ragged appearance.

Ace looked to be in serious need of food and a good night's rest. Well, stealing from the kitchens only during the night and sleeping sporadically with one eye constantly open would drive anyone to exhaustion. The rookie also looked like he sorely needed a bath, but Marco wasn't going to say anything about it. At least, not right now.

"You need some help with that, yoi?" he asked instead, indicating to his injury.

Ace scrambled up, hand still held to his nose, and glared. Then he turned and ran away.

Marco sighed.

* * *

.

**1st Year, 16 NOV**

.

A noisy crash. Another failed attempt.

Angry mutterings under one's breath.

Footsteps approaching. Eyes meeting.

"You coming to bed, yoi?"

"Fuck off!"

Footsteps running away.

A sigh.

* * *

.

**1st Year, 17 NOV**

.

It was nearing 9pm when Kagome strode into their room with a determined look in her blue eyes. Marco, who had been going through the division reports at his desk, looked up at her with a raised brow. He didn't say anything though. He didn't need to. He knew that Kagome would tell him when she was ready.

She took a breath. "This can't go on Marco."

_Ah. _He understood now.

"I know we agreed that we wouldn't interfere with Portgas, but can you still honestly say that now?" she continued, looking at him determinedly. "Almost every member on this crew is seconds away from tossing him overboard just to get a night of uninterrupted sleep, Jiji's orders be damned, and Jiji himself isn't getting as much rest as he should be."

At that sentence, Marco grew concerned.

Kagome noticed it and waved him off. "I just gave him a check-up this morning and his health is still fine, so you can relax. It's just I'm worried that all these nightly attacks won't be good for his heart in the long run. He can't keep using his senses 24/7 to know when Portgas is going to strike next. Even with his title of the strongest man in the world, it'll wear him out eventually."

She walked closer, sat down on their bed and contemplated her hands.

"Portgas isn't doing so good either. He needs regular meals and regular sleep. I'm healing him every time he gets hurt but you know why it won't help." She looked up then. Their eyes met, and Marco saw how serious her expression was. "His body will shut down on him. It's only a matter of time."

There was a moment of silence, before he finally spoke. "What do you have in mind?"

* * *

Eventually, the two decided on this.

They would let Ace continue with his assassination attempts, for now. They wouldn't try to change his mind, because they both knew first-hand how stubborn he could be when he put his mind to it. If Ace ever stopped trying to kill Whitebeard and joined the crew as their new brother, it was something he had to choose for himself.

Marco and Kagome would just make sure he took proper care of himself until then. They still had complete faith that it was only a matter of time before he came around.

As Marco had said before, no one could resist Whitebeard for long.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want me to do it?"

"I can handle him, yoi."

A smile. "I'm not the one who gets yelled a different variation of, 'Fuck you!' every time he even approaches the guy."

An unconcerned shrug. "He's a pirate. It's normal for him to swear, yoi."

"Or _maybe_ he just likes me better. He lets me heal him, after all."

"Maybe he found you too annoying to resist."

A laugh. "You ass."

"Or maybe Thatch was right and he really does have a crush on you, yoi. I've seen how red his face became when you healed him."

"He was just uncomfortable because I don't think he's used to being treated by a female doctor."

"Or _maybe_ he's uncomfortable because of something else. Somewhere _lower_." A suggestive brow.

A snort. "Don't be a pig."

"Oink, oink, yoi."

* * *

Ace may have been a slippery bastard when it came to avoiding people, but Marco knew the layout of the Moby well enough to manoeuvre around with his eyes closed.

It was obvious that the phoenix was always going to come out on top in their little chase.

Marco watched, his expression calm, as Ace's eyes darted back and forth, trying to find a way out. But it was no use. The older man had finally managed to corner the rookie in a dead-end corridor. If Ace wanted to flee, he would have to go past him.

There was no escape.

"You need to come with me, yoi."

Ace bared his teeth and growled. He currently looked more animal than man. Marco had a ridiculous thought about whether or not he would contract rabies if Ace ever decided to take a bite out of him (because it was looking to be getting more and more likely at the moment) and if his regenerative abilities would be able to heal something like that.

"Fuck off!"

Marco shook his head. "Not this time, yoi."

Ace opened his mouth (to say something scathing no doubt) but at the phoenix's pointed and very serious look, he closed it without saying anything.

"Kagome and I need to talk with you." Marco's tone brooked no arguments. "We wouldn't bother you if it wasn't important, yoi. So will you listen?"

Ace scowled at him, but finally nodded.

Marco sent him a warm smile. "Thank you, yoi."

Ace scowled harder.

Marco ran his eyes up and down the kid's body. Kagome was right. Ace looked like he was going to keel over and die any second. He needed a proper meal and a night's worth of sleep. He also needed a shower. He was dirty as hell. Even standing several metres away from him, Marco could still smell the sweat, blood and sea salt (from being thrown into the ocean so much) emanating from him.

"But, how about a bath and a meal first, yoi?"

"I don't need a damn bath and I'm not hungry!" Of course, it was at that exact moment that the rookie's stomach chose to growl as noisily as possible.

Marco watched as Ace's cheeks flushed with red. _Heh. How cute._

"I'm not saying you do, yoi. But _I _need them. I haven't had my dinner yet because of all the paperwork, and my last shower was two days ago. Kagome's busy with Oyaji right now and won't be free till later on, so would you mind accompanying me while we wait for her to finish? It'll be more convenient, yoi. And I won't be so lonely."

The anger in Ace's eyes had died down a bit. Instead, he looked hesitant now.

"Please?"

After a few more moments, Ace nodded.

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello my lovelies!

Whoa, I am on a _serious roll here. _Let's just hope that my inspiration keeps up until Part II is done. *crosses fingers*

So this chapter was completely Marco-centred. Next will be Ace's.

The excerpts style is pretty fun to write, so I might be doing it more in the future. Especially considering how long this story is going to be.

Please remember to review! :)

~Jumpingbeans480


	16. Part Two: Setting The Rules

**Behind Blue Eyes**

* * *

Chapter 4: Setting The Rules

.

**1st Year, 17 NOV**

.

Ace trailed after Marco silently as the blonde led the way to the communal showers.

The fire user knew where they were located, of course. He had found them after wandering around on his second night of trying to take Whitebeard's head. Ace just hadn't wanted to use them before because someone was _always_ there. Even during the weirdest hours imaginable. This was the downside of having such a big crew. No privacy whatsoever.

There was probably someone there now, and while a part of Ace bristled at the thought of being naked around his enemies, another part of him was too exhausted to protest anymore.

Which was why he didn't put up much of a resistance to Marco's request or even turn him down flat. Ace may have acted like the fool at times, but he wasn't stupid. He was stubborn, vulgar and very hot-headed, sure, but not stupid. He knew that he was being manipulated by the blonde. It was obvious.

But like he said before, he was too damn tired to give a fuck.

Single meals a day for someone with his appetite, constant paranoia about being on an enemy ship and little to no rest would drive anyone to exhaustion. Even Ace's frequent narcotic attacks hadn't helped with his fatigue.

There was also a small (read: large) part of Ace's brain that was sorely craving for a shower.

He felt absolutely disgusting, and probably smelt a lot worse. Ace had lived in the mountains and out in the wild for most of his youth, but even this level of filthiness was too much for him to handle. Not to mention, the hot water was going to be _heavenly _on his aching muscles.

But of course he wasn't going to let Marco know it.

No, Ace still had his pride… which was probably non-existent at this point, because in retrospect the fire user was obeying the blonde like a performing monkey.

Damn it.

Suddenly not that tired anymore, Ace was tempted to just get the fuck out of there. And fuck that stupid pineapple-head and that meddling woman for wanting to talk to him. They could go to hell for all he cared. Ace wasn't _tamed_. He wasn't some sort of trained pet that would come when called.

No. Ace was the captain of the fucking Spade Pirates. He was the super rookie who had gotten a 350 million bounty in ten months of piracy, who had turned down becoming a Shichibukai.

He wouldn't ever stop trying to kill Whitebeard, wouldn't ever call him his _father_, and he sure as hell wouldn't become that man's _son_.

_Hang on a minute…_

Ace frowned when he finally paid attention to where they were heading. He may not have been aboard long and the Moby Dick may have been like a labyrinth with its many levels and hallways, but Ace was sure that this wasn't the way to the showers.

So where the fuck were they going?

Or had the blonde been lying to him all along? Was he lulling Ace into a false sense of security, but was actually taking him someplace quiet to get murdered and thrown overboard?

Ace tensed, clenching his fists and readying himself for any sudden attack.

"Relax, yoi," Marco called out quietly over his shoulder, not bothering to stop or turn around. "Commanders have a separate bathroom from our subordinates. It's a little out of way from the communal showers but it's usually empty and I like the quiet, yoi."

Ace briefly wondered if the man was a mind-reader.

"Not really," Marco said, sounding amused. "Your emotions are like an open book, yoi. Any fighter worth his salt can easily sense the amount of _sakki_ you're letting out. Either you learn to curb it or you'll never pull of any stealth attacks on anyone. Unless of course you're trying to sneak up on the dead, yoi." Marco took a left turn. "Bathroom's down this hall."

The freckled man followed with a scowl on his face, resisting the urge to throw a fireball at the man's stupid head.

* * *

The commanders' bathroom was a bit smaller than the communal ones. Well, obviously it would be, since the Whitebeard Pirates only had sixteen divisions.

_But_, Ace thought as he stepped inside, _it's a lot better._

Four stalls lined each side of the walls, with a long bench splitting the room down in the middle. No smells of sweat, cleaning chemicals, damp or scented shampoo that had been prevalent in the communal bathrooms. No naked men loudly having a conversation from across the room as they washed the dirt off of their bodies, and especially no one comparing dick sizes in the corner.

It was quiet, and clean even.

"If you decide to join me, the towels are in there, yoi," Marco told him, pointing to a cabinet beside the entrance. "Just take any one." With that said, he made his way over to the bench and started to strip.

Ace turned away, deliberately choosing the shower stall furthest away from the blonde.

He quickly undid his boots and shrugged off his shirt. After a moment of wary consideration, he took an experimental sniff at the fabric. The fire user pulled away quickly, his face twisted in disgust.

_Urgh._

Ace was no stranger to being dirty and smelling bad, but _that_… he wrinkled his nose. He was sure there was no word in the world that would ever be able to fittingly describe that stench. Okay, that settled it. He would be washing all of his clothes. And thanks to his devil fruit abilities, they would be dry in no time.

Because there was no way in hell Ace was ever going to ask Marco if there were any new clothes he could borrow.

The man in question was currently sitting on the bench, untying his unnecessarily complicated sandals. His shirt, belt and sash were on the spot next to him. Ace's gaze roamed over the man's bare upper body, taking in the firm muscles and lean form that did little to suggest at the man's true strength as First Division Commander.

From his position, Ace could also barely make out the purple tattoo on the man's chest. He scowled.

"Something I can help you with, yoi?" Marco asked lazily, not even pausing from his task.

Ace flushed and looked away, realising that he had been caught like a girl staring at her crush. He continued with his stripping, this time pointedly refusing to look in the blonde's direction at all. Once he was fully nude, he stepped into the shower and turned the tap.

Ace almost let out a moan at the sensation of the warm water hitting his body. The longer he stood under the spray, the more he felt his aches and tensions fading away. Why hadn't he done this sooner? To hell with other people being in the shower with him next time. He wouldn't give a damn, not when it felt this good.

It was so tempting to stay under there forever.

Eventually though, the sound of another shower being turned on snapped Ace out of his bliss. He grabbed the bottle of shampoo and started washing his hair.

After rinsing off, it was his body's turn. Ace made extra sure to scrub himself and his clothes thoroughly. When he was satisfied of being clean enough, the freckles man turned off the tap and stepped out of the stall. He wrung the water out of his clothes as best as he could before putting them on. There, his Mera Mera powers would take care of the rest.

"All done, yoi?"

Ace turned to see Marco sitting on the bench, head bent down as he towelled his hair dry. With the exception of his shirt, the man was fully dressed. Even his stupid sandals were already strapped on.

"Yeah," Ace replied.

"Good." He watched as the blonde stood up and put on his shirt. Then he headed for the exit, dumping his used towel in a laundry basket that was on the other side of the doorway. He turned to look at Ace, his eternally lazy expression in place. "Now it's time for dinner. I don't know about you, but I'm starving, yoi."

* * *

Instead of staying in the mess hall, Ace followed Marco to a door that led to the kitchens.

"Like I said before, I like the quiet, yoi," the blonde told him with a small smile and pushed the door open, stepping inside. Although it was nearing 11pm now, there were still chefs milling about. They were chatting as they took long pulls from their bottles of rum, and one would occasionally add spices or whatever to a simmering pot of broth.

A single look from Marco had them all fleeing as if their very lives depended on it. Ace snorted. It probably did.

The freckled man watched as the blonde headed to the pot, trying very hard not to salivate at the delicious smells of food. He hadn't eaten in over 24 hours, and the hunger pangs were driving him crazy. He needed to eat.

"Take some if you want," Marco spoke up, grabbing a bowl and scooping some broth into it. "I won't stop you, yoi."

"I'm not hungry!" Ace snapped.

He wasn't going to be taken pity on. He also wasn't going to _ask_ for food. His pride wouldn't let him.

"I didn't say you were, yoi," Marco replied with a shake of his head. He was grabbing some rolls of bread from a basket now. "I was just telling you that it's okay to take the food. It's up to you what you want to do with it. Eat it, start a food fight, it's your choice, yoi."

Ace looked at him, frowning suspiciously. "Why?"

"Anything food related is under Thatch's division, not mine. It's not my place to interfere, yoi," Marco stated firmly. "Take some, don't take some, it's up to you. I won't stop you if you do. Because no matter what you may think Ace, you're not our prisoner, yoi. You're free to do whatever you choose, even if it includes trying to kill Oyaji."

With that said, the blonde fell silent. He didn't say anything else, just continued piling some pieces of meat and vegetables on a plate. When he had taken enough food to satisfy his appetite, he made his way over to a table, sat down and started eating.

Ace stared at him for a moment, debating on what to do.

He was stubborn, sure, but not stubborn enough to resist when there was so much food around him. He was _hungry_ damnit.

"… Don't think that just because I'm eating, it means you've won. I won't stop trying to kill that old geezer. I'll never stop," he finally said, and turned to grab a plate, or several actually. He was sure that given the chance, he would be able to finish everything in the kitchen.

Because his back was turned, he didn't see Marco's small smile. "I wouldn't dream of it, yoi."

* * *

Ace ate, and ate, and ate.

He started with the meats first, and when he'd finished that, he moved on to the fish. Then it was the bread next. The rice. The soup. The vegetables. Ace devoured everything he could get his hands on. Occasionally, the fire user would stop eating to look at Marco, to see if the man would speak up, to tell him that he'd had more than enough, that it was time to stop.

But Marco never said a word.

Instead, he just concentrated on his own dinner, chewing slowly, as if he were savouring the taste. When the blonde couldn't finish, he pushed his plate across the table to the freckled man, who gobbled it down as well. Ace ate until he was full, even for his bottomless pit of a stomach. He ate until he couldn't take a single bite more, until the kitchen was almost depleted of its food.

It was the best meal he'd had in a very long while.

* * *

It was sometime past midnight when the two finally left the kitchen. Their walk back to the blonde's quarters was quiet, the only sound being their footsteps creaking on the floorboard. When Ace followed Marco into the dimly lit room, he immediately spotted Kagome sitting on the bed opposite the one he had first woken up in, holding a sheathed sword in her hands.

The freckled man recognised it as the one she always had strapped to her side. The emotions on her face as she stared at it… Ace could make out the nostalgia and the regret. He wondered why.

He watched silently as Kagome looked up and saw them.

"Oh," she said, a small smile breaking out on her lips, "Welcome back."

Ace felt something warm blossom in his stomach, and immediately chalked it up to the full dinner he'd just had. Or maybe it was because of his inner fire. Yeah, that was the reason. It wasn't because her words had made him happy, had made him feel like he was wanted here. Had made him feel like he was coming home.

Nope. Not at all. Ace scowled. This would _never _be his home. No way in hell.

"So," he said, crossing his arms. "You guys want to talk to me about 'something important.' What?"

"Well…" Ace watched as Kagome put her sword aside. She then stood up and the freckled man hurriedly averted his eyes, silently willing his cheeks not to turn red at the sight of her attire.

The woman was dressed in a well-worn shirt that was several sizes too big for her. Because of the pale material of her blouse, Ace could again make out the indiscernible red shape that he'd noticed at her right hip a week ago. Definitely a tattoo then, he was sure. But it wasn't because of her tattoo that made him shy.

No, it was because he could see, clear as day, that Kagome wasn't wearing a bra underneath, and that the bottom of her shirt barely hid the sight of her panties.

So Ace behaved like a blushing virgin around women.

It wasn't really his damn fault in the first place. Until he'd left Dawn Island ten months ago, he didn't really have the opportunity to interact with the opposite sex much.

It didn't matter if he was a pirate now. He still needed more time to get used to it.

"…Marco and I, we've been talking," Kagome said, and Ace watched her exchange a glance with the blonde. At his nod, she continued. "About you, Portgas. We've been leaving you alone for most of the time this past week, letting you do your own thing. But now we feel that you aren't really taking proper care of yourself, so we want to set some simple terms for you to follow."

Ace let out a growl. Terms? To _control_ him? Fuck that.

He turned away to leave, but to his irritation, Marco was blocking the door. Ace would either have to fight the man to get past, or make a new exit through the wall.

"Get out of my way!" he grit out.

"Listen to her, yoi," Marco said, his tone dead serious. His normally sleepy expression was sharp as well. "You know that you can't keep living like this. Sooner or later, you're going to burn yourself out, yoi."

"It's either you collapse from the lack of proper meals and sleep," Kagome interjected, and Ace turned to growl at her. She ignored it. "_Or_, someone from this ship eventually lashes out at you because all your nightly attacks have finally driven them insane. This isn't the time to be stubborn Portgas. Marco and I aren't against you on this. We only want you to take care of yourself."

"So, these are the terms, yoi." Marco held up his hand and began counting off his fingers. Ace wheeled around to glare at him. "One. You're not allowed to attack Oyaji at night. It's impolite to bother the rest of the crew to clean up your mess, yoi. _But_, you can try as many times as you want during the day. Two, if you're injured, you let Kagome heal you. No excuses, yoi. Three. If you're hungry, you will eat. Don't starve yourself and wait until it's past midnight to break into the pantry. Just go into the kitchens and take what you want, yoi. No one will stop you. Four. You can spend the day anywhere on this ship, but at night you need to return by midnight. And lastly, five. You need to sleep here every night. Any questions, yoi?"

"Yeah," Ace said venomously, "How about you go fuck off and die?"

Marco sighed and crossed his arms. "I could just drag you back and chain you to the wall every night, brat."

"I'd like to see you try!"

"I don't need to try, yoi. I know I can do it."

"Fuck you!"

"With pleasure."

"Marco," Kagome chided, and the blonde let out another sigh.

"Listen up, yoi," he tried again, ignoring Ace's growl of anger. "Kagome and I are asking you nicely here. We didn't have to make up these rules for you. We could have just imprisoned you or even executed you because you're the guy who's been trying to take our captain's head, yoi. But we didn't, and we're not going to."

"Yeah, well why don't you?" Ace snapped.

It was fucking bizarre. The freckled man had already tried to kill Whitebeard over thirty times this past week. He had stolen their food and he had destroyed a lot of the ship during his fights.

Yet he wasn't punished, confined or even killed. Instead, he was always healed whenever he got hurt and although the men may have grumbled about it, they always patched up the damage he'd caused. Ace still had his freedom, the one thing he treasured the most in the world other than his brother, and he couldn't understand _why._

"It's not what Oyaji wants," Marco explained calmly. "He told me to take care of you, so that's what I'm doing, yoi."

"I don't need you to take care of me!"

"Well, too bad." He glanced at Kagome. "Because you're stuck with us, yoi."

"We're not telling you to stop trying to kill Jiji," Kagome said with a shake of her head. "Because that's something you have to decide for yourself. We know that. We just want you to take care of yourself better. Not drive yourself to exhaustion."

Ace scoffed. "Aren't you afraid I'll finally manage to kill that old fart if I'm back to full strength?"

"No. Oyaji is too strong to be defeated by the likes of you," Marco said confidently.

"Fuck you!"

"Not helping Marco," Kagome intoned, her voice dry.

The blonde shrugged nonchalantly. "What? It's true, yoi. Oyaji has decades more worth of experience compared to this guy," he jerked his thumb in Ace's direction. The freckled man bristled in response.

"Look Portgas, we just want you to follow these five rules," Kagome told him. "That's all."

"It'll be easier for everyone if you do, yoi," Marco interrupted calmly. "But remember Ace. Just because Kagome and I are asking you nicely on this, don't assume that we're pushovers. I wouldn't be lying if I said that she and I are one of the strongest people on this ship."

"Marco…" Kagome said with a shake of her head. "You know I don't fight anymore."

"But it doesn't change the fact that you're still strong as fuck, yoi," the blonde replied bluntly.

Kagome's smile was wry. "Oh really?"

Ace looked between the two, ignoring the rest of their conversation. His mind was currently reeling.

Marco being one of the strongest fighters of the Whitebeard Pirates didn't surprise him. The guy was the First Mate and the First Division Commander after all.

But Kagome?

The passionate doctor who was too damn nice for her own good? She didn't even look like she could hurt a fly, much less be a formidable a fighter as Marco claimed she was. How in the hell was she one of the strongest people on this ship? Appearances really were fucking deceiving, weren't they?

Ace snapped out of his thoughts when Marco cleared his throat. The blonde was looking at him again.

"We don't want to, but we will force you on this issue if it comes to that, yoi," he said. From the seriousness in his eyes, Ace knew that he'd meant every word. "So, will you follow the five rules?"

The fire user wanted to protest more, because who did they think he was? Ace wasn't some trained animal that they could order around for treats. He was Hiken no Ace, the super rookie who would be the one to take Whitebeard's head and become the next Pirate King, finally surpassing his accursed father once and for all.

But just as he opened his mouth to refuse, he felt a wave of exhaustion crash over him. It was a lot worse than the previous times because of the full meal he'd eaten. Ace knew that he didn't have strength to object anymore.

"… Fine," he said curtly. He shuffled his way over to the bed he'd woken up in a week ago and sat down.

Ace would obey their stupid rules for now. But as soon as tomorrow came, he would disobey them. Because no matter Marco and Kagome liked to think, they didn't control him.

No one did. Ace was free. He was freer than anyone in this entire world, and always would be.

"Thank you," Kagome told him softly, but Ace only scowled back.

"Screw you."

The woman wasn't too bothered by his scathing reply. She just silently went over to her bed, reverently picked up her sword and propped it up against the wall beside the headboard. Then she sat down.

Ace watched from his own bed as Marco (currently with nothing but his pants on) moved past Kagome towards the inner part of the bed towards the wall while she blew out their bedside candle. The two then lay down and the blonde threw a blanket over them. The room became enveloped with silence as they settled in for some rest.

The fire user hadn't lain down yet though, nor had he blown out his own bedside candle, because he was sure that the softness of the mattress and the darkness would lull him to sleep pretty easily.

The paranoid part of him wanted to wait until he was sure they were both asleep before succumbing to slumber.

Ace clenched his hands into fists, praying that his body wouldn't shut down on him till then. A slight noise from the other end of the room caused him to look up, and he blinked when he realised what he was seeing. _Huh_. The room may not have been well lit, but Ace could still make out how closely their bodies were pressed together under the covers.

The freckled had wondered about it before, but watching them now, he was sure.

Kagome and Marco were lovers. It was obvious from the way they acted around each other, to how they understood each other without saying anything and to how they could finish each other's sentences.

Sharing a bed seemed really insignificant in comparison.

"…It's not like that, yoi," Marco spoke up suddenly, startling Ace. The blonde man was watching him lazily, with his head propped up by his hand and elbow.

Ace flushed when realised he'd been spotted spying. Again. He scowled. Damn that stupid man with the stupid hair.

"Kagome and I aren't lovers," Marco continued softly, looking down at the woman slumbering beneath him. His expression was strangely tender. "We're just sharing because the bed you're currently in belongs to her, yoi. Unless of course… you don't mind sharing with one of us instead?" He raised his brows in a suggestive manner.

Ace choked. Him and Marco sleeping in the same bed, with Ace in Kagome's position or him and Kagome in the same bed, with him in Marco's position?

The freckled man felt himself grow hot at the imagery his brain had conjured up.

Marco chuckled. "Well, it looks like we'll be sticking with the current sleeping arrangement, yoi. Not if you're turning that red at the mere thought of it." His lips were quirked with amusement.

Ace looked down and cursed.

Even in the weak candlelight, it was still noticeable that he'd turned blushed all the way down to his chest. Damn it all to _fucking_ hell.

"Fuck you!" Ace hissed quietly. He may have been rude to the Whitebeard Pirates most of the time (what with his attacks in the middle of the night and all) but he still wasn't rude enough to wake a person sleeping in the room with him. He wasn't _that_ much of an asshole.

Marco only chuckled harder.

Ace flipped him off with both fingers and spun around so that his back was facing the man. What he didn't count for, however, was becoming entangled up with the blankets he never bothered to pull back and losing his balance.

The fire user was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello my lovelies!

Oh my god I am so exhausted, like you wouldn't believe. This was the chapter that _seriously__ wouldn't end. _It just got longer, and longer and longer... Even my outline was less than a hundred words... So I don't know how the hell did it turn into _this_ monster.

Anyways, I hope you all are enjoying it so far.

To those that reviewed so far, I love you and thank you so much. The reviews have honestly made my day and spurred me to write so much more. And to those that haven't, I'm not forcing you to, and I'm not blackmailing you either. I'll still write and update, regardless of your lack of reviews.

But it would be nice if you spoke up once in a while. 87 follows and only 3 reviews last chapter? Yikes.

~Jumpingbeans480


	17. Part Two: Following The Rules

**Behind Blue Eyes**

* * *

Chapter 5: Following The Rules

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**1st Year, 18 NOV**

.

By the time Ace woke up the next morning, (feeling more well-rested than he'd had in a week) Kagome and Marco were both gone. There was food laid out on the bedside table again, just like when he came to from his narcoleptic attack in the infirmary.

Ace doesn't touch it.

* * *

Another day full of assassination attempts and damaging the Moby went by.

But at least, Kagome was happy to note, Portgas wasn't stubborn enough to starve himself this time. Thatch reported that the rookie had come into the kitchens several times during the day and ate enough food fit for ten men. So the regular meals and the healing sessions – that was two rules followed. The other rules… not so much.

Kagome glanced at the clock. It was past midnight now, and Portgas still hadn't shown up for bed.

She then looked to Marco. The man was at by his desk, going through his mountain of paperwork again. As if feeling the weight of her gaze on him, he paused in his reading and turned to face her.

Their eyes met in a silent communication for a few seconds and in unison, the two sighed with exasperation.

Marco quietly shuffled his papers into a neat pile before standing up. He stretched, feeling the bones in his back pop from being hunched over the desk for too long.

"He's hiding in the boiler room," Kagome told him helpfully from her place by the bed.

The man didn't reply as he strode out the door.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later Marco returned, this time with Portgas in tow.

The rookie was silent and majorly pissed off, yes, but also strangely compliant. He wasn't being dragged or anything, like Kagome expected him to be, but instead willingly followed after the phoenix into the room. Kagome didn't understand why until she noticed the large forming on Portgas' forehead, along with the various other bruises on his torso, most likely caused from crashing into something with great force.

She sighed. "Really Marco?"

"I warned him, yoi," the man replied lazily. "He didn't listen."

"You whacked him because he didn't listen?" Her tone was full of disapproval.

"No, I _kicked_ him because he tried to throw a fireball at my head when my back was turned, yoi."

"Isn't that a bit much?" Kagome asked with a sympathetic wince.

As a doctor who healed people in times of battle, she'd seen first-hand the kind of damage Marco could inflict on his enemies with his haki-infused kicks. Even Jozu in his diamond form wasn't completely immune to them. And now, from how the phoenix sounded when he answered, Kagome knew that he hadn't held back on strength for the rookie.

"Well, then he shouldn't have tried to throw that fireball at me, yoi."

"It's not like it could have harmed you, you know," she stated dryly, and stood up to retrieve her waterskin. With Marco's regenerative abilities, the burns would have been healed in a matter of seconds.

"Maybe. But I can't regenerate hair, and I have no desire to go bald, yoi," the man said, going back to his desk again.

_Ah. _So that was explained why Marco got so harsh with Portgas. If there were one part of his appearance the phoenix had to be vain about, it was his hair. Everyone aboard knew that if they damaged even one blonde lock, it was equivalent to signing their own death warrant.

Portgas was sitting on his bed when Kagome approached him. She made sure to do it in a slow and gentle way, like how one would behave when one went near a wild and possibly rabid animal. She could practically sense the anger rolling off of him like a tsunami, and although he hadn't looked at her yet, he glared at Marco like he wanted to kill the man in the worst way possible.

She knew that she had to be more delicate around him than usual.

Kagome uncorked her waterskin, gathered the water to her hand and pressed it lightly to his forehead. Portgas still let out a hiss of pain though, and his gaze swivelled to her angrily.

"Watch what you're fucking do—" he growled, before stopping abruptly.

His eyes widened and a prominent blush quickly formed on his freckled cheeks. Kagome noted, with a small measure of amusement, how mortified Portgas seemed to be as he stared at her chest. Or more specifically, at her bare breasts. Kagome generally didn't wear a bra under her shirt when she went to sleep because she found them much too uncomfortable as she always slept on her side, cuddled up with Marco.

Well, Kagome wasn't too bothered by Portgas staring at her like that.

From the time she was six years old, _he_ had raised her alongside his sons who would eventually grow up to take on the names of _Ryuuou _and _Maou_. Growing up in such close proximity with the two boys had made Kagome a bit of a tomboy herself. Plus with her current occupation as a pirate, well, let's just say being ashamed about nudity wasn't really in her blood anymore.

"Hold still," she told him softly, and the water started to glow. She wasn't so mean as to tease him about his embarrassment.

Her actions seemed to be the thing that snapped Portgas out of his trance. The rookie hurriedly averted his eyes, choosing to stare somewhere off to the side, where the wall was.

He didn't say anything more or look back to her as she healed him, and it was a long while before his blush faded away.

* * *

.

**1st Year, 21 NOV**

.

Kagome stood away from all of the chaos currently going on. She surveyed the scene before her with a calm eye, entirely focused on locating anyone from the crew that was injured.

The Whitebeard Pirates were fighting against a hoard of marines on the main deck of the Moby. There was also fighting happening on the decks of the four other marine ships (with Jozu, Thatch, Vista and Haruta's divisions leading the assaults) but this was where the majority of the battle was taking place.

The woman pursed her lips as a man from Kingdew's division threw someone overboard.

It was rare for them to encounter the Navy in their path. The World Government generally ordered marine vessels to avoid the Whitebeard Pirates at all costs because it was known that they would be decimated, no matter how big their fleet was or how strong they were.

Whitebeard's crew was always stronger.

If the Whitebeard Pirates were ever attacked, it was usually by upstart pirates and/or their crews because they'd somehow gotten it into their heads that they had what it took to kill Edward Newgate. Like Portgas, they were quickly beaten out of that notion, but _unlike_ Portgas, they were never taken aboard or asked to be Whitebeard's newest son before.

Kagome averted her gaze from the fighting (not wanting to see a marine get stabbed through the stomach by a man from Curiel's division) and glanced up, sensing a familiar presence.

She spotted Portgas standing on the level above the main deck, with his elbows resting casually on the railing.

He was watching the battle going on with an almost bored look on his face.

The rookie really had to be one of the most stubborn people Kagome had ever known. Each night, he bullheadedly refused to return to the room even after midnight, and each night Marco had to be the one who always went out and dragged him back. Kagome had offered to fetch Portgas in his stead before, but the man always turned her down.

"You're doing a lot more healing than you're used to, so you need the extra rest, yoi."

That was what the phoenix told her every time she volunteered. While Kagome did believe his reasoning, she could also see that Marco took pleasure in using excessive force to bring Portgas back. It was most probably payback because the rookie tried to throw a fireball at his head.

Portgas had _no_ idea what kind of landmine he'd stepped on by trying to harm Marco's hair.

Kagome was still watching him, so she noticed the exact moment his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the battle. The nonchalant boredom had faded away, replaced with something like… concern? His hands, still resting on the rail, twitched once before relaxing. Portgas looked like he was holding himself back (with some effort) from doing something.

Kagome whipped around, senses on high alert, just in time to see a member from Rakuyo's division get stabbed in the back by a marine some distance away. The man collapsed to the ground and the enemy raised his blade for a killing strike.

No one else on the crew had noticed their fallen brother.

_Shit!_

Kagome took off running. She uncorked her waterskin as she moved and took control of the liquid inside. She willed with all of her being for the water launch out of there in an attack, to stop the marine from killing that man.

But it was no use. The water would not obey. It refused to.

"_Kagome," _**his** voice suddenly resonated in her head, sounding so tired and so bittersweet._ "My little bird. You are going to become **such** a beautiful, powerful, pirate someday. I only regret that I will not live long enough to see it…"_

Kagome clenched her hands into fists.

_He_ was wrong. Marco was wrong. They were both so, so wrong. Kagome wasn't a powerful pirate. She was a weak one. Pathetic. She was so goddamned weak. Because she couldn't _fight_ anymore. She couldn't use her powers to fight anymore.

_His _death had robbed her of the ability to do so.

Kagome charged at the marine, preparing to draw her sword. Before she could reach him however, a form enveloped in blue fire zoomed past her and launched a flying kick at the enemy.

She heard multiple bones cracking from the impact and the man ploughed through the side railing of the Moby and went overboard.

Now that the threat was taken care of, Marco, in the glory of his hybrid form, kneeled beside his fallen brother. His normally lazy expression was changed to one of worry as he examined the injured man. Kagome approached them and sank to her knees. She placed her hand briefly over his in thanks for his timely arrival.

"I've got this," she told him softly, and Marco nodded his head in acknowledgment.

Then she focused her attention on the incapacitated crewmember. Fortunately, he was still conscious and while his wounds were serious, they weren't at that life threatening stage yet. Not if she started treating him now.

"Don't move," she instructed him firmly. "Just stay like that."

"G-got it, Kagome-san…"

The woman carefully channelled the liquid out of her waterskin and pressed it gently to his stab wound. It started to glow with the power of her healing and slowly, but surely, the wound started closing. Kagome continued to remain at the injured man's side while Marco stood vigil over the both of them, making sure that there weren't any marines who took advantage of her distraction.

When the man's condition was finally stabilised, Kagome allowed herself to briefly glance up at Portgas.

Their eyes met across the deck. Blues and greys. Portgas' facial expression was carefully blank, but Kagome could sense the myriad of emotions swirling inside of him.

Anger, shame, regret, stubbornness, consternation, pride, and relief.

He had seen the marine sneaking up on that man. He could have done something to help, could have prevented him from getting hurt, and almost had, if the twitching of his fingers were anything to go by.

But he hadn't. He just let that man get cut down.

If Portgas hadn't been warring with himself over his decision to not help that man, Kagome didn't know whether she would have _ever_ been able to look him in the eyes again.

* * *

.

**1st Year, 27 NOV**

.

Portgas was finally following the rules that Kagome and Marco set for him without prompting.

Whenever he got hurt, he would let Kagome heal him without resisting. If he were hungry, he would go directly to the kitchens and eat as much as he wanted. (Thatch was now moaning how at quickly their supplies were dwindling.) During the daytime, he would try extremely hard to take Whitebeard's head and at night, he would turn up for bed.

But, being the spiteful and stubborn person that he was, Portgas made sure to only show up a minute after midnight. And every time he appeared for bed, his expression broadcasted how badly he wanted to murder them in their sleep.

Kagome and Marco still considered it a vast improvement from before.

* * *

.

**1st Year, 4 DEC**

.

"Hey Portgas, can I ask you something?"

Kagome was in the middle of healing a nasty cut on Portgas' back, from when the rookie had collided painfully with the staircase by one of Whitebeard's haki-infused punches.

The two of them had been enjoying a companionable silence until then, before Kagome chose to break it.

She couldn't see his face, but knew that he was wary. "… What is it?"

"Well…" Kagome took a moment to think of the most diplomatic way to phrase her question.

This was something that she had noticed about Portgas right from the start, but she had never voiced it out loud before. Because she knew that if she did, there was a high chance of pissing him off and undoing the cooperation that he was currently showing them. In the end though, she decided that there was no tactful way to go about it. She would have to be blunt.

"You try to kill Jiji over and over again every day, but why? What are you trying to accomplish?"

Portgas tensed, and he turned his head so that he could look her right in the eyes. There was fire in that gaze, so much fire, and for a brief moment Kagome couldn't help but think it was fitting that he was the current fire Logia devil fruit user.

"I keep on trying to kill that shitty old geezer's because I want to claim the title of the strongest fucking pirate in the whole fucking world. I'm going to become the next Pirate King and there won't be a man, woman or child on this earth that won't know my fucking name," he stated, his voice full of quiet confidence.

But Kagome could tell that there was something more to his words that he wasn't telling her. It was something very important that dominated his entire being. A secret of sorts.

"You don't mean it," she replied, and watched as his eyes widened at her declaration.

What she said was completely true though. While Portgas' outer appearance exuded a confidence and surety to his words, it wasn't the same for his inner self. Kagome had always been good at reading people, at seeing deeply into their souls and understanding them. So that was why, from the very beginning, she always knew that Portgas wasn't fully putting his heart into his attempts to kill Whitebeard.

"Who are you trying to convince with those words? Me, or yourself?"

Kagome watched as his face started to flush a deep red with anger. She knew that if she kept on speaking, he would blow up on her. But she wouldn't stop. This, she felt, this was something that really needed to be said.

"You lack conviction. And until you find it within yourself, until you really _want_ it, then you will never succeed in killing Jiji."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Portgas finally roared, getting to his feet and wheeling to face her. Kagome didn't flinch from his expression. She just met his glare head on. The rookie was panting hard from the sheer force of his anger, while his fists were unclenching and clenching. He looked like he was controlling himself from striking her.

"YOU DON'T KNOW FUCK ALL ABOUT ME, SO YOU CAN JUST TAKE YOUR FUCKING HIGH AND MIGHTY OPINIONS, SHOVE IT UP YOUR FUCKING LILY-WHITE ASS AND FUCK OFF!" he spat, and stormed off before Kagome could finish healing him.

She did not follow.

* * *

As midnight came and went that very same day, Portgas didn't return to the room again.

Kagome sensed that he was hiding in a supply closet near the bottom levels of the ship, and told Marco so. The phoenix sighed once in exasperation, before getting up and going to fetch the wayward rookie.

When the two men returned, Portgas headed straight for his own bed, resolutely ignoring Kagome's presence.

Kagome wondered if her forcing him to confront his innermost self like that had been such a wise decision. Because after all, no one liked to be told that the very foundation they had built their lives on wasn't as stable as they thought it was.

Portgas didn't speak to her or look at her for the rest of the night.

.

End Chapter

* * *

Hello my lovelies!

So, in this chapter you'll probably figure out by now who _Ryuuou_ and _Maou_ are. They're the sons of Kagome's _him. _Just to remind you all again, _Ryuuou_ means 'Dragon King' and _Maou_ means 'Demon King'. Make a guess! Who are they? :D

And we also see why Kagome doesn't fight anymore. She can't. The death of he-who-must-not-be-named affected her on such a deep level that it's put a psychological block on her mind. So she's unable to use her abilities to form any attacks. Healing, manipulating water currents and controlling water in general, sure. But no attacks.

No worries though, she'll overcome it eventually, thanks to our foul-mouthed grumpy fire user. XD

Thank you so much for all the reviews for last chapter! 9! Whoohoo! That's the most I've gotten in a while! *throws confetti*

Don't forget to review!

~Jumpingbeans480


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